Jaune Arc slowly awoke, disoriented, the rough wooden planks of an old convenience store floor pressing against his back.
A thick scent of dust and something faintly metallic hung in the air.
"Why did I show up here out of the blue?" he wondered aloud, his voice raspy.
His last clear memory was the dizzying, terrifying sensation of being flung through the air during Beacon's initiation test.
Then, the horrifying truth crashed down upon him, a wave of cold dread.
"I'm dead! I splashed myself into a tree!"
Panic welled up, tightening his chest.
"Is this hell or heaven? Damn it! Did I die in vain?!"
He scrambled to his feet, a surge of fierce denial coursing through him.
He could still feel the phantom ache of his impact; he wasn't truly gone.
This wasn't any afterlife he had ever imagined or feared.
A Voice in the Void
Suddenly, a serene, synthesized voice echoed not in the room, but directly in the deepest recesses of his mind.
[Connecting to host Jaune Arc]
[Welcome to the Multiverse Convenience Store. Here we have everything for sale, everything that exists in the multiverse.]
[And now, this store belongs to the host. Please act as the owner of this store.]
[Store will open once the host is ready]
[To comfort the host's death, the convenience store is offering discounts and multiverse silver coins to the host to buy things that the host desires.]
Jaune froze, his eyes darting around the seemingly normal, though deeply outdated, store interior.
Except, the shelves weren't stocked with chips and soda.
They held weapons forged from exotic metals, glittering crystals, vials of vibrant Dust—objects no ordinary convenience store would ever stock.
Each item bore a price tag, mostly denominated in nearly worthless multiverse copper coins.
"Wait," he murmured, his mind seizing on the most important detail.
"Silver coins... that means I can buy something much better."
As the thought solidified in his mind, the products on the shelves began to shimmer and distort.
The low-quality goods vanished, replaced by dazzling, higher-tier items.
The new stock was now exclusively priced in multiverse silver coins and boasted enticing discounts of over fifty percent.
A mental prompt flickered into his awareness, informing him he possessed ten silver coins.
It seemed a pitifully small fortune, yet compared to the immense value of the now-displayed goods, it felt incredibly significant.
"Even though these things are valuable, they're useless here if I can't leave,"
Jaune sighed, a fresh wave of despair washing over him. He still didn't know what world awaited him outside the dusty front door.
Was it Vale? Was it Beacon?
The Price of Death
Driven by a desperate need for answers, he decided to venture out.
He cautiously opened the front door, only to find the small store nestled deep within a dense, gloomy forest.
The outside world was teeming with menacing, shadowy figures—Grimm.
Terror seized his gut, and he scrambled back inside, slamming and locking the flimsy wooden door with frantic urgency.
"Okay, maybe not Vale... but it's still Remnant?"
The realization that his existence hadn't been entirely extinguished warred with the primal fear of his current predicament.
He was alive, yet he was surrounded by certain death.
He waited, expecting an immediate, shattering assault on the store. But minutes passed, and the Grimm outside remained oblivious to his presence, wandering through the trees and entirely ignoring the small, unremarkable building.
Cautiously, Jaune cracked the door open again.
His heart hammered against his ribs, yet the creatures remained completely indifferent.
"This is really strange," he muttered.
"Grimm are drawn to negative emotions, to fear, to life... Why do they ignore me?"
Driven by a terrible curiosity, Jaune stepped fully outside, his boot crunching on the dead leaves, placing him directly before a hulking Beowolf.
The creature lumbered past him as if he were nothing more than a distortion in the air.
"In conclusion," he whispered, a chilling, absolute understanding dawning on him.
"I'm really dead! Even the Grimm, the mindless hounds of darkness, ignore me!"
Jaune Arc was dead, yet he could still interact with the physical world.
He couldn't see his reflection in the glass of the store window. He felt a phantom urge to scream, but what was the point?
He pinched his arm, and a sharp, undeniable pain shot through him. He continued to test the limits of his bizarre existence, the results baffling.
"I am truly dead," he concluded, yet every physical sensation—the pain, the feel of the wind, the sound of his own breath—contradicted the very notion of being a simple ghost.
His body felt real, solid, and responsive.
"What have I become? Neither a ghost nor truly human."
A long, slow breath escaped him.
The Grimm posed no threat. He turned back to the store, a flicker of genuine hope igniting in his chest. Perhaps something within this bizarre shop could explain his strange, liminal existence.
"This store supposedly has everything," he mused. "No harm in looking for a way out."
The items on the shelves seemed to shift subtly with the focus of his thoughts.
"Right now, I want to get out of this forest."
A Deal for a New Life
> [Host, the system recommends the host buy this item. It will help the host get out of the forest very easily. As for moving the store, as long as the host opens a new shop somewhere, that's enough. The rest will be handled by the system itself.]
A suggestion appeared, materializing clearly on a holographic display above a single, wing-shaped necklace.
Item—Flight Necklace
Origin—Overlord World
Rank—Silver
Abilities—When wearing the necklace, if a user focuses his/her awareness onto the item, it activates the power hidden inside which is the [Fly] spell. Once activated, the user will be able to fly high in the sky, reaching the clouds.
Price—1 MSC
Jaune's eyes widened. Flight! Escape was not just possible, it was easily attainable. Nevermores would be no obstacle. Since the Grimm couldn't touch him, he could simply fly high above the forest canopy and reach the nearest settlement.
"I'll buy it. Thank you for the recommendation, Ms. System."
[It's okay, as long as the host is satisfied, that's enough.]
A small, genuine smile touched Jaune's lips. Not all was bleak. He had this... system.
"Um, Miss System, can I give you a name? Or do you already have one?"
[Yes, please give me a name. From now on I'm yours. You can name me whatever you want, host.]
Jaune considered for a brief moment, a sense of lightness replacing his earlier terror. "Ciel," he decided.
[Thank you for the name, Host.]
"No problem, Ciel. Now, to leave this forest... but I have nine coins left. Should I buy something else first?"
[Ciel recommends the host to use the coins to get a physical body. It's unfortunate that the host can't use the old body because the host is already dead, and the dead shouldn't come back to life, otherwise, the host might get arrested and dissected for science purposes.]
The thought of being captured and experimented on sent a violent shiver down his spectral spine.
Laying low, perhaps with a completely new identity, sounded like the height of wisdom.
He scanned the available options for a new physical form, his choice being the most crucial decision of his new, strange existence.
Name—Ninja Physical Body
Origin—Naruto World
Rank—Silver
Price—5 MSC
Name—Demon Physical Body
Origin—Kimetsu No Yaiba World
Rank—Silver
Price—3 MSC
Name—God Physical Body
Origin—Against the Gods World
Rank—Silver
Price—9 MSC
Name—-Devil Physical Body
Origin—DxD World
Rank—Silver
Price—7 MSC
This new form would literally be the vessel for his second life. He had to choose carefully.
His gaze landed on the most intriguing, most powerful-sounding option.
"I'll take the God Physical Body."
The name alone held an undeniable, intoxicating allure, promising strength and a fresh start that his old life had denied him.