Folks, it's the 25th of August, you know what that means? Well, I dropped a hint in the last update I made too -. Yup, it's my birthday! What does that mean? Well, before I got sick I was actually working on something big. Really big. I was lacking the motivation to do it for a while now but this was the kick in the pants that I needed so here we go. *Drum roll. A BACKSTORY FOR ASOBI! And in the form of a Gamer fic to be specific, though not a traditional one. Well, that's enough stalling, let's go.
Universe Prime, year 1x10^8, 3rd person POV
In the middle of a black void, a single consciousness idly thought to itself. It's emotions dull from the acceptance of its fate. Or it's perceived fate anyways. 'I should be dead. No. Not just dead, non-existent. Just like the rest of the universe. So why am I still conscious?' The being thought to itself, musing over the impossibility of the fact.
Indeed, yet here we are. How could that be possible? I'll give you a hint, this trope was quite popular in the 21st century.
A vaguely feminine voice joined the being's own thoughts. 'Another voice? And the 21st century? Of which calendar? The first perhaps? What was that tired old trope again, an isekai?' Memories flooded back to the being. Old memories. Ancient.
'Are you kidding me? Let me guess, the multiverse is real, and as the last living being of my universe, I get a free ride? How fortunate.' It thought sarcastically, still in disbelief of what was happening.
Correct, you are now in a crossroad, your choices are death or life in a new world. It's not much of a choice but I hope you can forgive me for that. And I must say I expected more panic. Then again, you humans have had quite the long while to get used to fiction becoming reality. Who knew all of those entertainment devices would have a practical use eh?
'And considering that there's a voice in my mind, I can assume that you will be my guide? It's been a while since I've been a student but if it means living I'm willing to follow.' A whole new world to explore? And one where everything wasn't in a state of total entropy? Hell yes!
It's nice to see that an eternity of soul-crushing loneliness hasn't taken away your enthusiasm. There's a reason why this gift is only given to the last one standing. Now, enough with the gender-neutral pronouns, let's decide who and what you'll be in your new world shall we?
'So I'll be a biological being again? That's bound to be uncomfortable for the first few days. By the way, can I get a little context here? You haven't exactly given me more information than, 'the multiverse exists' and 'ill go somewhere in it' yet.
Fair enough. Tell me, do you remember a little sub-genre by the name of The Gamer?
'...*perfect imitation of the Bender evil laugh'
I'll take that as a yes. Though I should warn you, my system isn't quite the same. You see, instead of having full access to your stats you'll simply gain the body of a Gamer. Your growth rate will be accelerated, and you will have access to the Gamer's various extra features however, you will not have the precise control of a classic Gamer.
That...Could make things difficult, then again I should be grateful for the accelerated learning speed anyway. Complaining about the lack of powers that I never had, to begin with, would just be stupid.
Ah, and don't worry about your memories. We managed to collect them as your life support system deleted them and we'll be slowly reintroducing them into your new mind. Can't risk frying your new meat suit in its own juices now, can we?
'Of course, I assume we're going chronological in this case, I'll accept this. Given what I'm expecting, my earliest memories will likely be the most useful. Just please, keep the reference materials. Comedy is kinda my only redeeming quality.'
Self-deprecating as always. That's enough with the pleasantries, let's get down to business. Since this is your first link in the chain you shall receive some starting credits to start you off.
+1,000 Cr
Additionally, my own system runs off magic, as such the freedom of choice is highly valued and the sacrifice of said freedom can earn you some bonus credits. For every option that you leave to chance, you will gain an additional 100 credits. Choose wisely however, not every option is as benign or irrelevant as you may think.
That brought the bei- 'Ok screw it, randomize my starting sex and gender, I can change it later on anyway.' +200 You are now a biological male with highly feminine traits. 'So I made myself a trap, could be worse.' At least he wasn't completely asexual, that would have been hard to explain in most worlds he could think of.
'While you're at it randomize my race and age as well, along with my hair and eye color.' Again, things he didn't really care about, they could all be changed along the way, he just hoped that he didn't start off as some kind of geezer trap. That would just be inconvenient.
+400 You are now a 14-year-old Saiyan(Universe 7) with the default black hair and eyes due to the randomized race.
'Ah, crap. I guess race also includes alien species and not just human demographics. I should have probably thought of that when she mentioned the multiverse...'
Expected lifespan: 80~ years
Due to this race change, you now gain physical stats at twice the speed of normal humans. Additionally, you feel at home with resistance training almost as if your body was designed for them. Finally, every time your health drops below a certain amount, you will gain a power boost relative to how injured you were. ? ? ? ?
'It could be much worse, what sucks is that age. It's going to be rough growing up again. And I'm guessing those question marks are my potential transformations? In that case, I'd like to choose the world that I'm going to, how much will that cost me?' I'll be damned if the default is Universe 7 Dragon Ball. I'd die almost instantly!
Apparently it was a straight 500 so long as I was specific about the world, I could even choose my starting location. In that case, I chose the world of RWBY, on the island of Patch one month before Ruby encountered Torchwick for the first time as a good tutorial level of sorts. I also randomized my origin since as a Saiyan, it wouldn't really matter. My potential would still be nearly limitless.
+100 You are a modern Saiyan of low class. Good luck with that, who knows, maybe you have some hidden potential under that low initial power-level.
Cr: 1,200
Next up was equipment and starting skills. This was a bit tough to decide. On one hand, I needed equipment in order to survive the early stages of this world, but they will most likely become obsolete as my power increases.
Equipment: 20,000 Lien(-200), Beacon transcripts(-200), Frieza force armor(old)(-200), Kurikara(cleansed)(-100).
Magic: Unlocked Aura(-100), Semblance(telepathy)(100) unlocked ki(-100), basic ki control(-100), intermediate ki control(-100).
Cr: 0
That's all your points. You should be losing consciousness soon, when you come to it shall be in your new body. Enjoy your new life, and remember, have fun.
'Hn, I plan to, don't worry about it. That semblance in particular sounds like way too much fun. This new world is in for quite a surprise, and who knows, maybe I can do a little good along the way.'
Patch island, midnight. 1st Person POV
*Inhale "Damn that feels good. It's been so long since I've breathed. Now, where the hell am I?" I look around and see a vaguely familiar snowy hillside. "Ah, the werewolf cliff. Where werewolves attack little girls. I should probably leave but-" Ok, first things first, the status menu won't work, but how about-. Inventory.
A crude rectangle appeared in my vision, though it wasn't a physical thing. It only existed in the mind of the caster and responded to their thoughts accordingly. It did actually generate the items out of seemingly nowhere though. Kurikara simply appeared and disappeared in my hands from thin air.
'Damn that's cool. Can't wait to collect more so I can go Shirou Emiya on someone's ass. Then again the multiverse is a thing sooo-' Fanboying aside he had bigger issues at the moment. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have done that in the open considering just who frequents this place.
"That was so cool! How did you do that? Was that your semblance? What's your weapon's name? How come I've never seen you at Signal?...Hi! My name's Ruby Rose, what's yours?" Wow. She's even more adorkable in person. I could practically see the floating bubbles around her.
"...It's a trick I learned, sort of, my semblance is unique, it doesn't have a name yet, my weapon's name is Kurikara, and I don't go to Signal. Hello, my name's...Slate. Just Slate." I came up with the name on the fly. It had to be color themed, plus this name reflected what this new life really was. A clean slate, even my memories had been wiped away, granted they'd return. Slowly.
"O-oh, that's cool...So... Wanna go Grimm hunting with me?" Ouch, granted that wasn't the worst suggestion but the delivery really nailed it. This kid was about as socially awkward as you could get without being an Emiya.
Deciding that this would be a good introduction to my new life I chose to join in. Plus this would give me a relatively safe way to fight Grimm, if I mess up Ruby could cover my back. "Sure." I answered, taking the young reaper off guard from the nonchalant answer.
"R-really? Just like that? Huh, most people look at me weird when I ask that out of nowhere...But you aren't most people, are you? Let's have some fun, I saw a pack of beowolves that way, let's go!" She rushed off, thankfully not in a burst of rose petals or Slate would find himself alone in the frozen forest once more.
...Sudden happiness induced cuteness aside, I followed her to the best of my abilities. Which was fairly decent to my surprise, I forgot just how fast Saiyans could be, even just a default, untrained one.
With our practically blistering pace we reached the relatively small beowolf pack in a matter of minutes. I was breathing a bit heavier than earlier. I wasn't particularly tired physically but I was definitely out of shape mentally.
'It's been...I don't even know how long it's been since I've actually moved. This heavy breathing, my heartbeat...It feels good!' It may have been the sudden rush of dopamine. Or maybe it was my new Saiyan appetite for battle. Either way, I was more than eager to begin the fight and I did just that by catching the runt of the litter by surprise with my Kurikara, slicing its head off without much effort.
'Huh, they really do feel like jelly on the inside. Or maybe that's just the sharp blade and Saiyan strength talking?' I thought, slightly distracted as a sniper round picked off two of the wolves that tried to avenge their fallen comrade with a double headshot.
"Nice shot Ruby, sorry about that I've never actually killed a Grimm before." I admitted, hell I never actually fought to the death before. At least not in his first century. "That being said, don't think I can't hold my own!" My Saiyan pride flared at the thought of being outdone, even if intellectually I knew that Ruby was probably stronger than me.
Testing out my ki control a bit I channeled the building energy I could feel in my new body into my feet in a large burst, propelling me into the next beowolf at speeds that left it impaled on my blade, slowly dissolving as I processed what that felt like.
'I see, I didn't notice at first because of the cold, but now that I used ki I can distinctly feel those two energies. Aura is almost like a cold, gaseous fluid in comparison, emanating from deep within me but never leaving moving past my skin unless I will it to.' Far more stable than ki, but more limited.
'Ki, on the other hand, was like a heatwave, constantly boiling across my whole body, escaping it as it saw fit unless I actively tried to get a hold of it. These energies are going to take a while to master.' Learning from my earlier mistake, I actually noticed the remaining beowolves making a bee-line towards me which I met with one of the more basic ki techniques.
'Focus the energy into my limbs, then with a quick flex of the muscles, release it all in a straight line.' It was a timeless technique used throughout Dragon Ball. "Kiai!" I yelled and threw a punch at the beowolves. A wave of air pressure knocking the first back into the wolf behind it, snapping the neck of the first wolf from the whiplash. A single shot to the head from Crescent Rose finished the second beast.
"SO COOL! Did you just punch the air so hard that it knocked out that beowolf?! You just gotta meet Yang, she'd never let me hear the end of it if I found her a punching sister and never mentioned it." Ruby yelled, bright-eyed at the display of strength.
"I'm a boy actually." I corrected her nonchalantly, understanding that this would likely be a running gag.
"...Eh?" She froze in place, caught completely off guard...I need to look in a mirror later, was I that feminine? "Eep!" Whoops, I guess I Ruby was a bit too distracted and missed the beowolf skulking its way to ambush her.
Which almost worked until a basic ki blast exploded in its face. "I guess that makes us even? And sure, if this Yang is anywhere as strong as you, I'd like to meet her." Ok, that was a partial lie, I didn't really like Yang all that much. At least at this point in the timeline where her personality consisted of Hulking out, starting one-woman gang wars, and overprotectiveness over her sister...Wait what was that last one?
Minutes and one disastrous first meeting later.
"Get the back here so I can beat the hell out of you!" The super Saiyan wannabe yelled before charging towards our very frightened hero. Thankfully the anger made her predictable...But no less terrifying considering that the punches that missed him still made craters in the ground.
'Damn it, I can't even explain myself without losing concentration and I'm NOT getting hit by one of those!' How did this even happen again? We started off so well, what ticked her off enough to do this?
"Yang stop attacking Slate! He just had his first time a few minutes ago and he's probably too tired for a spar!" Yang's eyes widened further and her punches suddenly got faster...Right, that's why.
"Damn it, Ruby!"
So, how is it so far? Good? Bad? Mediocre? Do you have any idea what that whole first half was about? Wait, that last one is a question I can actually answer! But I won't get too into it, for now, I plan to reveal more of Asobi's(or Slate's for now) backstory as the story goes on through allusions and such.
For now, just know that Slate comes from a universe that's long-since gone dark. Its stars have burned out. Black holes have evaporated. And he was there to see it all happen first hand...I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
And if you were wondering, yes the Kurikara that Slate bought was the real one. Though it has no real special powers other than being a cool demon-slaying sword which doesn't really apply to Grimm. It does have a very high capacity for sealing away energy but don't worry about that.
Also, can anyone guess who the voice that gave Slate his chance was? I left a few small hints in the chapter though its a fairly obscure member of the divine pantheons. Don't worry if you don't know, their identity is pretty irrelevant for the future.