-----
-----
Two and a half years ago.
No lightning strike.
No sudden stroke of luck.
No overwork-induced collapse.
Max was just walking home after working late one night. He turned a corner, his vision blurred for a second—and suddenly, he'd crossed into another world.
Other people might turn a corner and stumble into love.
He turned a corner and stumbled into transmigration.
Body and all, younger than before.
The transition was seamless, like he'd been slotted into this world without resistance.
Not like he'd fused with some alternate version of himself, but as if reality itself had spun up a whole new backstory to prove he'd always belonged here.
And in that backstory, "Max" was a solitary genius.
A bookworm who lived and breathed study.
Shut out the world, ignored the noise.
All he wanted was to get into Tokyo University, graduate, climb the ranks, and become a model elite.
Then reach financial freedom and live a happy life.
Until he got into Todai, he refused to let anything distract him.
Friends? A waste of time.
Why hang out when you could be studying?
So far, "he" hadn't made a single friend.
Hardly surprising. A withdrawn personality doesn't attract much company, no matter where you are.
Even though Max had "watched" those thirteen years of memories play out from a third-person perspective—like watching a movie—every detail was sharp, etched into his mind.
That meant he'd inherited everything "he" had worked so hard to learn.
Time flew by, and now Max had gotten a better grasp on the world of crossover anime.
On the surface, everything looked peaceful, ordinary.
But underneath lurked hidden dangers.
Like the vengeful spirits he'd run into.
Still, maybe because this was a crossover world, there weren't nearly as many as he'd feared.
Not like Mieruko-chan, where they're crawling all over the place.
So far, he'd only encountered six.
But if spirits existed here, didn't that mean other supernatural creatures might too?
Youkai, maybe.
He couldn't be sure yet, but in this world, nothing was impossible.
After all, aliens were real.
Opening his "All Things Compendium," Max chose to claim his latest reward.
A rush of pure energy flowed into his body, fusing almost instantly with seven different types of aura.
Aura—the power wielded by "Kings" in the K Project universe.
All things carried spirit.
Especially living beings.
Ability users could manipulate their own aura.
And when aura clashed with the physical world, it created a phenomenon called "Haze"—like the shimmer of hot air on a summer day.
Different attributes glowed in different colors.
For example, the Red King's aura burned crimson like fire.
Since Max carried the authority of all seven Kings, his body held seven distinct types of aura.
In less than three seconds, the fusion completed.
He probed his reserves.
His total aura had increased by about one percent.
Not bad, but he'd need a ton more medium-grade energy to double it.
And that was going to be tough.
In the past couple of days, he'd only run into six spirits.
Aside from one clawed spirit, the other five were all weaklings—lower-class.
That clawed one had been wiped out without much effort.
According to the compendium's ranking system, based on "value," lower-class spirits were only white grade.
The compendium's ranks went:
White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold…
Max glanced at his own compendium's grade.
Transparent.
Outside the normal system.
A special case just for him.
Normally, the compendium only gave one random reward per grade.
Like a single King's authority.
But he had gotten all seven.
Which left him both satisfied—and slightly dissatisfied.
See, his "transparent" grade let him draw rewards from any tier, from white all the way up to gold and beyond.
In his view, a single King's authority was maybe blue grade at best, nowhere near purple.
Even within the same tier, values varied.
That clawed spirit had been green grade, but its reward was only ten medium energy units—on the low end of green.
So pulling something valuable from green was tough luck.
One King's authority was blue.
All seven combined might scrape into purple.
Good, but not great.
What he really wanted was a gold-grade reward.
That was his frustration.
The upside was that at least his prize wasn't some bottom-tier white or green junk.
No point dwelling on it.
An idea struck him, and he stashed the compendium away.
Leaning back on the sofa, he closed his eyes.
With a focused breath, he reached inward, linking with the seven authorities.
Clear as day, he "saw" his inner space.
Seven Damocles Swords hung overhead.
Below them stretched a river of rainbow light, each color sharply distinct.
The aura of the seven Kings.
Time to try something new:
Fusion.
Sure, the seven powers were opposites, but at the core, they shared the same root.
If he could unite them… who knew what might be born?
Using the immense mental strength granted by the Colorless King's authority, Max began carefully guiding the merge.
Unlike the other Kings, every Colorless King's ability was unique.
Mikoto's was foresight.
The White Fox's was interference.
Max's? Divine Command.
It meant both control and defense.
His mind was so strong, it could affect the physical world itself.
He could manipulate matter, as long as it stayed under his limit.
And he was immune to any kind of mental or psychic ability.
One failure. Two. Three. Four…
He lost count of the attempts.
Then suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
A spark of excitement flashed inside them.
He'd done it. Finally.
Lifting his right hand, he extended a finger.
A wisp of rainbow light curled around his fingertip.
Aura fused from all seven attributes.
One aura stronger than seven.
In his perception, this hybrid aura was at least ten times denser than any single one.
And with that first spark formed, the rest of his aura began fusing on its own.
Now it was just a matter of time.
Half a month, maybe.
That, he could wait for.
Once the process finished, the seven authorities would shed their old shells and be reborn as something greater.
Max could already feel the anticipation building.
In his inner space, the rainbow river showered light like falling stars.
A swirling vortex formed below, glowing like a galaxy in the night sky.
"....."