April evening, 8 o'clock.
Tokyo, Nerima Ward.
"Can you see me?"
"Hey, you can see me, right?"
"Answer me—you can see me, can't you?"
A raspy voice kept echoing, buzzing around his ears like a fly. Arthur forced himself to remain calm.
Aside from irritation, the only thing building up inside him was rage.
As for fear and panic?
He had felt them before, but not anymore.
In his vision, a towering humanoid figure—over two meters tall, shrouded in black mist—was muttering endlessly in front of him.
It leaned forward with a hunched back.
Its limbs were thick, its arms unusually long.
Five fingers curved into pitch-black claws, each nearly twenty centimeters long.
Four blood-red eyes glared straight at Arthur.
Its mouth was filled with rows of sharp, white fangs.
To the few passersby nearby, it was completely invisible. Its eyes seemed to hold only Arthur.
Arthur's face was expressionless.
He ignored it.
Holding a plastic bag of groceries in his left hand, he walked steadily toward his apartment.
His body passed straight through the creature's.
As if they weren't even on the same plane of existence.
"Can you see me?"
The shadow creature trailed after Arthur, chanting like a broken recorder.
Minutes later, on an empty street—
DONG~~~
It was as if a great ancient bell rang in his ears.
The world froze in that instant.
Everything stopped—time, space, even the entire world—except Arthur.
"What the…?!"
Arthur halted, his eyes flashing with surprise.
A cascade of radiant colors appeared before him.
They condensed into a book.
Its cover was ornate, gilded at the corners with intricate golden patterns.
Faint, shifting images of mountains, rivers, sun and moon shimmered across its surface—like all things in existence were contained within.
[The Compendium of All Things]
Information surged into Arthur's mind.
And he understood.
This was his cheat—two and a half years late, but here at last.
Ten days ago, he had dreamed of a book.
Within it were gods, demons, dragons, angels—beings of fantasy.
He dreamt the same dream for seven nights.
Two and a half days ago, he felt the world change.
Or rather, not the world—himself.
His eyes now saw the hidden, truer side of reality.
Like the monster before him.
And it wasn't the only one. In just two days, he had already run into five others.
They stuck to him like chewing gum.
But all of them had been ripped apart by the shadowy thing now following him.
Arthur's attention returned to the glowing book.
The Compendium opened on its own.
And on the very first page—he froze.
It was himself.
The function of the Compendium could be summed up in twelve words:
Record. Illuminate. Reward.
As long as he observed something of sufficient value, the Compendium would record an entry.
He hadn't expected it to record himself.
He looked at the details.
His entry was already illuminated.
Name: Arthur
Rank: Transparent (Special)
Description: Master of the Compendium
Reward: The Authorities of the Seven Kings
"...The Authorities of the Seven Kings!"
Arthur raised his brows.
He remembered this.
It came from the world of K.
In that universe, the term referred exclusively to the seven beings who stood above all other power users.
Each King was a humanoid weapon of mass destruction.
Their destructive force alone was terrifying, but their "Domains" were impregnable—defensive fields that could withstand even a direct nuclear blast.
Glancing at the monster that had stalked him for two and a half days, Arthur had no time to think further.
First, he needed to integrate the power.
"Compendium—fuse."
At the thought, his vision blurred.
He found himself standing in a vast, star-strewn cosmos.
Beneath him was a colossal stone disk, etched with runes as if carved by the heavens themselves.
This was the Dresden Slate, the source of the Kings' power.
Seven beams of light shot skyward.
They transformed into seven massive swords, each unique in form.
The Swords of Damocles.
The symbol of a King.
Light rained down from them onto Arthur.
First Authority: The Silver King – Permanence.
Second Authority: The Gold King – Destiny.
Third Authority: The Red King – Violence.
Fourth Authority: The Blue King – Order.
Fifth Authority: The Green King – Revolution.
Sixth Authority: The Gray King – Protection.
Seventh Authority: The Colorless King – Chaos.
All seven Authorities awakened within him.
Arthur felt power surge through every fiber of his being.
What seemed like an eternity passed in the blink of an eye.
Back in the real world—
Arthur opened his eyes.
A flicker of rainbow light passed across his deep-blue irises.
"Right now… I feel terrifyingly strong."
Clenching his right fist, he savored the surging force inside him.
His gaze fell on the Compendium again.
The second entry had already appeared.
It was the shadow creature.
But the entry remained unlit.
Closing the book, Arthur's body began to glow faint silver.
The domain of the Silver King—control over gravity.
His body floated upward.
He raised his right hand, summoning crimson flames.
The power of the Red King.
Fire took form.
Channeling his rage into raw flame, Arthur slapped the monster across the face.
CRACK!
The fiery impact spread instantly, flames crawling across the creature's body.
Before it could even scream, the world resumed its flow.
And in that very instant, the monster was reduced to black ash, burned away completely.
The shadow that had hounded Arthur for two and a half days vanished.
The flames dissipated.
Relieved, Arthur exhaled.
Those days had kept him on edge, too frightened to even sleep.
But now, his cheat had finally arrived.
Glancing around and seeing no anomalies, he resumed his walk home.
No further monsters appeared along the way.
By Shakujii Park, Arthur reached his residence—
A three-story house with a garden, about 360 square meters. By Tokyo standards, he lived like a "wealthy household."
In the living room, Arthur slumped into the sofa.
With a thought, the Compendium appeared before him.
The second page was lit.
Name: Claw Wraith
Rank: Green
Description: Mid-Tier Evil Spirit
Reward: Ten Units of Medium Energy
"…Mid-tier Evil Spirit…"
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
As expected—it was a ghost.
Just as he'd guessed.
Most likely, it came from the world of Mieruko-chan: The Girl Who Can See Them.
He hadn't been certain before.
Because so far, he hadn't encountered familiar figures like Miko Yotsuya or Hana Yurikawa.
After two and a half years in this world, he had pieced together enough to understand:
This was a composite anime universe.