Chapter:The beginning
In a mysterious place in a different existence two beings discuss something
"Well Terence I think its time to bring in the players"
The individual then presses a button and suddenly the view distorts and shifts
to a Earth
In a messy room with empty food cans and spilled water a teenage boy with black hair and question marked pajamas is seen playing a game on his computer
"Yall truly don't understand what it means to be unpredictable.its as if you're all npcs ready to be sho- huh?
A message appears explaining to him, he shall be transported to the Chizen continent immediately
"Wait HUH!"
A blue light than envelopes the boy and in an instance his transported into the computer as gun fire is heard coming from it
And another boy wearing all black pajamas and yellow hair
"Well I guess you tried good jo-heh? whats thats supposed to mean"he remarks sarcastically
"WAIT NOOO-..."
A boy walks through and moon illuminated park,the sound of of a fountain spewing water and the humid air in the atmosphere he scrolls through his phone wearing a black and white hoodie and pants
"Huh is this a jo-"
Before being transported as well
Than a full moon is seen until it distorts and spins until returning to the mysterious individuals
"OH how interesting it seems we meet again...coqetsu"he says with anticipation
The sounds of fighting are heard as the scene shifts to a street
This time its a boy in orange attire and black sneakers fighting three grown men dressed in black
"GIVE IT UP YOUR FINISHED!"
The guy swings his crowbar downwards the sound of the street floor cracking as the sound of the crowbar smashing into the ground reverberates through the atmosphere but the boy dodged and jumps,hitting the man with a devastating knee kick
He lands and simoteniously ducks a pipe strike,he than kick sweeps the pipe attacking man
The man falls harshly onto the ground when
suddenly a whistling shot is heard as the boy is pierced by a sniper bullet
At that moment the third man rushed in and hits the boy with a powerful punch to the face as everything fades to black the boy with his remaining consciousness remarks to himself
"damn... I got...care...less"
and everything blacks out
On that day it was reported that three people went missing and Shadow Coqetsu was murdered by hired hit man
Who's been tracking him for months
End of report
A blue light flashes as shadow wakes up in an unfamiliar place
He seems to be on a concrete surface as wide as a stadium with a blue barrier protecting the area.
But something seems different,he looks at his hands and is shocked to see his transparent body
"What happened,I died but it doesn't seem I got reincarnated into a different reincarnated...but thats only assuming I did get... reincarnated
Shadow looks around to see three more people that seem to be in the same position as him
When a enthusiastic digital voice is heard
"WELCOME PLAYERS TO THE CHIZEN CONTINENT IN OUR WONDERFULLY CONSTRUCTED GAME! KNOWN AS CHIBLITZ"
When suddenly a tall red and black suited man with a cyber mask and black top hat
Appears from green coding
"NOW AS PLAYERS YOU ALL HAVE ONE OPTION,YOU MAY TAKE OVER ANY RESIDENCE OF THIS GAME OF YOUR CHOOSING"
THE announcer lifts up two fingers gesturing two options
"YOU CAN EITHER TERMINATE THE ORIGINAL HOST OR SHARE THE SAME BODY, I AM TRULY ESTACTIC TO SEE YOUR CHOICES AND ANOTHER THING IF YOU CAN'T FIND A HOST WITHIN A YEAR"
The announcers digital eyes and mouth glitch as they shift from a vibrant green to crimson red and with a terrifying presence he declares
YOUR
"PRIVILEGES AS A PLAYER WILL BE REVOKED AND I WILL PERSONALLY COME AND REMOVE YOU"
His presence than shifts back to his enthusiastic version and gleefully says
"NOW ENJOY YOURSELVES AND TRY NOT TO LOSE YOURSELF"
with that final message the announcers body glitches as he turns into red coding and disappears as if he was never there.
As the area is in gulfed in a deafining silence the four players look at each other,
Some hesitant and some seem estatic when the boy in questioned marked pajamas says casually
"Well guess it's time to go find a host and oh yeah just wanted to tell you all refer to me as "mystery"the person who will be at the top"
With that remark mystery leaves and the yellow haired boy does the same and leaves without a word.
"How can these guys be so calm in a situation like this,I mean now that I think about it,it's like they can't stay leveled head but the chose to accept this reality and make do with it"
Shadow remarks to himself
As both him the the hooded guy walk their own paths with all of them having their own goals.
than the focus then moves to the sky and back to the ground revealing a massive city.
Mystery walks around the city searching for a host while looking through a system panel
Showing his remaining duration to find a host
344 days:23 hours:20 minutes:06 seconds
Mystery stares at the panel dejectedly
"Finding a host is easier said than done,even if im able to see the information of anyone I want,everyone I've come across are so weak that I can't consider taking over them,I need to find someone strong"
Mystery strolls into a tower that instantly teleports him to a space tower that oversees the earth,he sighs disappointed when suddenly the space tower shuddered
Mystery stumbles onto the window and looks out towards earth to see,massive black hands gripping the earth as a colossal being emerges from the planet ,its eyes spiraling white as it furiously begins crushing the earth
Mystery looks at the being excitedly
"Finally,perfect its just perfect"he mutters
He attempts to appraise it but fails a system prompt informing him
"This beings information is classified to seek further access—host body required
Would you like to take over this beings body"
"YES" he says expectingly as he finger is about to press yes his interrupted before he could confirm the override,the tower shook again as a masked man dressed in black combat ninja attire appeared in front of the black being
And began pleading
"3.0.6!YOU CAN'T JUST DESTROY THE PLANET OVER MINT ICE CREA-"
3.0.6 Without mercy swatted the masked man into the sun and he began crushing the planet shaping it into a small ball
The focus than dives into earth to Shadow's point of view his flabbergasted on what's happening
"I don't believe this even though that thing seemed to of crushed earth,no one's hurt or even dead but...I can't help but think what world i got myself into?
The world distorts as it's shown 3.0.6 about to eat the planet as if it's a meat ball but the masked man appeard once again his mask now glowing a red flame shouts.
"3.0.6 IF YOU DESTROY EARTH YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM SUPPLY WILL BE GONE
3.0.6 stops midway and an awkward silence sweeps through the atmosphere
AND I WON'T BE ABLE TO ENJOY RAMEN SO I BEG PLEASE DON'T DESTROY EARTH!"
3.0.6 as if reality hit him realizes his right and reshapes the planet back to normal 3.0.6 begins yawning and starts crawling into the planet as if like a ghost but before 3.0.6 could completely dissappear
Mystery grins
"Perfect,here's my chance
Mystery smashes the confirm button with his finger and takes over 3.0.6 is body and than grins as he turns into light and fades away with 3.0.6
The masked man lets out a released sigh as he stares at earth
"Maaaaan I really could have myself a bowl of RAMEN"
As he says this he disappears in a flash and as the focus shifts instantly to a illumanted blue place as a transparent being as if like a spirit sits in meditation as shadows foot is shown and the everything cuts to blacks as these words are heard
"Confirm coexistent override"
The focus shifts to an ice–cream shop as 3.0.6 is body seen slumped to the ground
Mystery wakes up as he looks around then he stares at his hands noticing the transfer was confirmed,a black simply panel appeared explaining host take over was confirmed the original host has now been removed replacing the original with you
Would you like to change your name
"YES I'd like to change it to Mystery"
Name change confirmed
Mystery grins and gets up
"System what's my rank?"
System prompt do to 3.0.6 is existence being unique the system can not justify a proper rank granting the unique rank special rank
"Nice,ok than what am I scalable to in terms of rank than?"
System prompt the you are scalable to an SSS rank being
"SWEET SO IM AT THE HIGHEST RANK"
system prompt you are not at the highest rank
"What but isn't SSS supposed to be the highest and if it's–wait if its not the highest
Mystery grins with excitement
"That means I can climb to even higher ranks"
In a place that seems to be a sea shadow and the spirit being are shown be standing across each
"I'm to believe you already know who I am"
"You're shedoden a ancestral class spirit thats over 300,000 years old with strength comparable to an S class being
Shedoden with a melancholic expression says
"Why didn't you remove me from my body and simply have for yourself" he says sternly
"Simple I believe that removing you from your body would seem unfair and I'd prefer make a deal"
"A deal?"
"Yeah in exchange for you to help me grow and become stronger I'll figure out a way to get my own body and let you have yours,what do say?
The atmosphere tenses as shedoden doesn't respond when he he suddenly says
"Fine I'll agree to your proposal but I must warn you,I still don't trust you even if you are a player
"Thats fair with me,you don't have to,all I want is to becomes strong enough to survive and leave a peaceful life that's all I want"
The scene transitions to shadow training as he practices a unique style of martial arts in shedodens body
"Come on your not fluent enough if you're gonna be using my body atleast learn how to use it"
"Yeah I got it like this!"
Shadow executes a perfect strike but it destroys a small part of the area in the process
Shedoden sighs in disappointment
"If your going to be this reckless,I can't imagine you mastering essence control" he remarks disappointed
"Essence control?"
"Right...your a player so you wouldn't know about this"
Shadow slightly defensive says
"But I'm not a player"
"Huh?" He says confused
"I kind of died and reincarnated into this world"
The atmosphere tenses once again until shedoden suddenly says
"So what your telling is that your a parasite?
He says suspiciously while teasing
Shadow now frustrated says
"What? NO,I'm simply saying I didn't originally belong to this world!"
"Hmmmm...parasite
"Hey!"
"Alright it's to get serious,to answer on essence control,it's the control of your inner essence meaning energy or absorbing essence, from the surroundings as essence is everywhere and everything"
Shedoden says seemingly in a mocking tone as shadow realizes this but doesn't push the argument
Shadow now slightly irritated asks
"Alright since I can't do that, do you know anything i can do to accelerate my progress"
"Well yes I do have knowledge on that but I don't plan on telling because I simply can't trust you yet" shedoden says taunting him
Shadow annoyed now suppresses his annoyance and asks
"Fine ill just have to train myself to death until I can learn it"
Shadow begins Relentlessly training for hours,to days,to months and after a year he began seeing grey orbs around the training area
"Huh wait is this-"
"Essence yeah ,if you're wondering why you aren't tired its because spirits don't get tired instead we absorb the surrounding Essence to recover but I'd suggest you don't revert back to your human state"
Shedoden says this to shadow seriously
"Why not" he says confused
"It's because you'll immediately starve to death once you revert"
"WAIT WHAT!"
"Wait so your telling im stuck as a spirit!"
"Well no not necessarily, if you find a safe point you can revert safe fully"
"Wait why aren't you threatened this is your body?"
"Well its simple"
Shedoden gives a small smirk
"It's because im not afraid of death and because I've experienced death multiple times already so even if my spirit won't waver it won't be the same for you"
"Wait if I were to revert right now I'd die right?"
"Correct but you'll come back after a day of recovery to atleat eat some recovery jirky"
Shadow grins and shedoden Immediately realizes and sighs
"I'll tell you this now you will regret reverting right now"
"Relax I've experienced multiple things including near death states but I never actually experienced dying"
He says casually
"Hmmmmm, fine do what you want,I won't be held responsible for what you experience"
"This is good if he survives it'll be a good experience but—"
Shedoden says this to himself and glances at shadow and he crosses his arms
"Alright im gonna do it!"
"Do it than should be a good learning experience"
"Alright here I go"
shadow closes his eyes and for a moment nothing happens, suddenly he opens them again
"Ummm how exactly do I revert back to normal?"
Shadow asks slightly embarrassed
"That's what I thought
You have no clue on how to do that"
"Well I just thought I had to think about or an interface would show up"
"To bad this isn't some fantasy there's layers to this"
"You'll first need to learn
essence sense
Essence absorbing
Essence circulation
Essence stability
And finally essence control
"WHY ARE THERE SO MANY STAGES THIS IS UNFAIR!"
"Reality isn't fair so what's your point"
Shadow sighs
"Fine ill learn"
"Good now practice"
Suddenly multiple books appear in front of shadow
"What's this for"
Shedoden than says knowingly says with with a slight grin
"It's for each stage so have fun"
"But but but so much!"
This will take me forever
Shadow says unbelievingly
"Relax it'll only take about a 5 years to master"
"But everyone will be far ahead of me in power by then"
"Ok let me give a scenario than
Two restaurants create the same dish onagiri rice cakes
But the first restaurant makes there's two times faster but they lack true emotion when cooking while the other has a slow but foundational understanding of what they make
Which one will make more money?"
"Obviously the slow and steady restaurants because they have a better understanding of what...they...make
Shedoden says mockingly
And taps him by the shoulder
"I think you should know the rest"
After a while shadow is seen crossed legged,deeply reading a book on essence sense but suddenly shadow groans in annoyance
"Tell me why I don't have access to tier two of essence sense?"
"Well its because I want you to learn how do everything in the first stage because focusing on one thing is a great mistake I don't want you experiencing"
"So based on that I can deduce me focusing on one stage will lead me to a downward spiral like you"
Shedoden twitches in annoyance
"Actually if you were to do that it would lead you into a path where you can lose control and burst do to essence overload and since your using my body I'd prefer you don't do that
Shadow groans in frustration when
suddenly he faces down and begins muttering to himself
"If I were to do that I could face an essence overload which could lead to me and shedodens death in that scenario I won't live long,I can't catch up to anyone else and overall this path has alot of downsides"
"so instead I should take the long game I master everything so that even if Im Not at the same level I can still match everyone in mastery"
Shadow grins but it than disappears
"Wait if essence exists that means-"
Shedoden
"What"
"Tell me something"
Shadow begins getting up
"Is there any other systems to this like magic or blessings and if so I want you to teach me how to strengthen my mental state and spirit"
Shadows grin appears again as air essence is absorbed into his body chaoticaly being forcibly circulated
Shedoden takes note of this
"He may have a potential affinity for chaos essence"
But immediately after thinking this Shadow pukes out essence as his soul was damaged for not properly circulating the essence
Shedoden immediately dismisses his speculation after Shadow crutches down do to the pain
Shadow continues to puke out wind essence but suddenly smiles
"Damn so this is essence backlash I'm guessing,meaning I can't actually rush it"
Shadow gets up and wipes the puke from his mouth
"Shedoden,now im willing to actually train I'll start immediately"
Shedoden after hearing this seems to notice a slight change,it wasn't the biggest,it wouldn't even be considered a change at all he thought to himself
"I'm glad you actually started paying attention"
Shedoden realized shadow could sense the spirit essence he was emitting
"It's not the biggest step but it's something, it's funny to about what will happen to once you begin sensing my true presence,because once you do the real training begins"
Shedoden says this as a sligh smile appears
As a blue flame ignites slightly in his right eye.
End of chapter 1