AN: So, another new fic. What's new, am I right? But anyways, for anyone who somehow came from Keeper of Secrets; don't worry, that's still going. This is mostly just a throw-everything-into-the-sky fun type of fic. I originally had Re:Soul Edge for that, but I accidentally infused too much story into that one. And, I don't know, I guess I just needed a dumping ground for my ideas before I grind myself to the dirt (not that I already have).
Now, what to expect? Game Systems, fun, OP-shenanigans, OP enemies, and most importantly of all: Lemons. I've never included that in my other fics; mostly because I didn't have any reason to, but since everything goes here, well, yeah.
Fool's Journey - 1
"The Hero's Journey always begins with the call." - Joseph Campbell
Consciousness came to Hanami slowly.
She yawned, stretching her hands over her head as she rose from her bed. She felt great, for once. She didn't feel like falling asleep just after waking up, and the usual soreness plaguing her arms was nowhere this morning. She was fairly sure she dreamt of something as well, but the memory had faded.
With a small smile, she opened her eyes.
[No possible skills has been cataloged]
And stared at the blue panel floating inches from her chest. She blinked, and blinked again.
[No possible skills has been cataloged]
It remained there. She blinked again. It remained. Slowly, she brought a finger forward and poked it, and a chill crept up her spine as she felt her hand push it.
[No possible skills has been cataloged]
She took a shaky breath.
…
[No possible skills has been cataloged]
It was still there.
And as if to spite her, the panel then flickered, growing wider as the words written over it scrambled, breaking and merging into different words entirely. She watched it all with wide eyes, her jaw dropped as she read the insanity that'd displayed itself before her.
[A.I.M. -Version 17.2.01- has been successfully installed. Would you like to proceed with the tutorial?]
[Yes]
[No]
"What?" She whispered, distantly noting that her finger had pressed [Yes].
[-Akashic Integration Mechanism-]
An automated system generated by grafting a small portion of Akasha into the user's soul. The mechanism has been altered to be visually readable by a humanoid being. Through this has the user's soul been severed from their ties to the underlying Fates.
She could only blink as she felt water run down her hair. It took her a second to realize that she was in the bathroom, standing under a running shower. She tried to stop her hands from moving to the shampoo bottle, from clacking it open and running a sheen of shampoo through her hair. She found that she couldn't.
[The user's bodily movements has been set to -Automatic- for the duration of this tutorial]
Those words flashed onto the panel before her eyes, and she felt a chill creep up her spine despite the warm water she was showering in.
[Would you like to proceed with the tutorial?]
[Yes]
[No]
Once again, her fingers tapped [Yes] on its own. She could do nothing but watch as the words on the panel transformed once more.
-Status-
-Skills-
-Missions-
-Inventory-
-Glossary-
She didn't bother trying to stop her finger from pressing the -Status- this time around. She knew she could do nothing but watch as her body moved on its own, drying her hair with the towel she pulled from the nearby rack.
-Status-
A visualized description of the user's current personal status. Additional explanations and functions would be added as the user progresses.
User: Tsunaka Hanami (17)
Race: Human
Operation: Automatic
Constitution: 100/100
Mana: -
She let out a small mental sigh, one that froze the moment her body flipped her hair to the side. The effect was diminished by her short hair, but she couldn't help but silently snort to herself. The -Automatic- was having some fun with her body it seemed.
-Parameters-
-Equipment-
Just below the rest were two other options, and her finger swiftly moved to press the former.
-Parameters-
A visualized categorization of the user's overall capabilities. Each parameter is divided into several different ranks. Each parameter can be upgraded through training or through the use of specific items/events.
Strength: F [0%]
Endurance: F [0%]
Agility: F [0%]
Magic: -
Luck: F [0%]
She finished reading just in time to see herself tie an apron over her chest, an oiled pan already sitting atop a small flame and a couple eggs placed just by the side of the stove. Her hand grabbed both eggs and cracked them into the pan at once. With the confidence of a professional, her body gracefully flipped both the eggs in a single swish, and all Hanako could do was watch.
She was sure the -Automatic- function was making fun of her at this point.
[First tutorial has concluded. Generating first mission for the user to undertake…]
…what?
[Mission generated]
[The user has successfully run through the first tutorial of the system. A field trial is now to be done]
-Trial by Crimson-
A cavernous world, once filled with life, now bathed in consuming flames. Thereby a bell shall toll, and from then shall the ancients be given their rest once more. Find them, keeper of balance. Find them. Free them. Before their souls be dragged into the seven hells.
Enter Klavashka [x]
Make it to the dethroned shrine [x]
?
?
?
Rewards: 1 Random Skill Tablet, 40 Requims
[Will you accept this mission? -Warning- The user will immediately be teleported upon acceptance]
Accept this mission? She'll be teleported immediately?
No. No! Not like this! She'd indulged this enough! She'd seen that everything this panel was showing was real, and there was hardly a doubt that this -Mission- would be any different. She couldn't accept it!
But her body didn't listen, and she could only watch in mute horror as her finger moved.
[Yes]
[Beginning teleportation…]
And of course, as if to spite her, the -Automatic- function ended just after she accepted, and she found herself stumbling from her seat.
She would've hit her head on the floor, but her body faded into sparks of light just seconds before she could.
Then, the next thing she knew she was laying flat over a patch of ash. The air was heavy with soot and dust, and she could feel the uncomfortable warmth permeating from somewhere she couldn't see. Slowly, she looked around at the small clearing she found herself in, accompanied by nothing and with a ceiling of jagged stone above her.
She waited for a second, then two, before a small, terrified smile appeared on her face.
"What the hell?"
What the hell indeed.
[Tutorial on [Skills] will soon begin…]
She shrieked in surprise. The messages gave her no mind.
-Skills-
A visualized description of the user's specialized abilities. Skills can be gained by; Grafting them into the user's soul through [Items]; or by having the experience of the user acknowledged and materialized by Akasha. Skills can be upgraded through performing certain actions as per requested.
Current Skills: -
She took in a shaky breath and let out a small laugh. Not even a single skill, was it? Did her, admittedly basic cooking not count? Her past experience in tennis? Not a single one?
How truly cruel.
[As of -Version 13.2.19-, the user is given an initial starter Skill, picked from a choice of three. Please choose the wanted skill]
[Sword Mastery (E)]
[Spear Mastery (E)]
[Archery (E)]
No further descriptions. A click simply asked if she wanted them. No explanations over what each skill did. Sword. Spear. Bow. Those were her three choices. She'd never even touched any of them before, and now she had to choose which she would use?
She was going to die.
…
[Choose [Archery (E)]?]
[Yes]
She'd never touched a bow before, but at least she wouldn't immediately slice her arm off. Using a sword sounded rather tempting, but she'd have to get close, and that would probably just lead to an early demise. A similar case could be made for spears, even if she had a longer reach. The bow was the safest immediate choice.w
[Beginning grafting…]
She blinked. Beginning-?
Then suddenly, she fell onto the ground and screamed. Everything hurt. The uncomfortable heat in the air was forgotten, overtaken by the sheer burning agony that ran through her veins. It was as if a molten iron rod had been shoved down her spine, and she could do nothing but writhe on the floor and cry.
[Grafting successful]
The pain lingered even after that, but she forced her eyes open and read the new message board that'd appeared.
[Archery (E)]
Allows the -Basic- use of bows and arrows.
Increases damage using bows and arrows by 25%
-Expand to view requirement for Rank Up-
It didn't explain much. It barely explained anything at all. What did 'Basic' mean? What did 25% mean overall? Was (E) her Skill Rank? Or was it something else entirely?
She didn't, and she didn't care. Everything hurt.
[As per the user's choice, [Trainee Bow] and [Wooden Arrow] has been added into the inventory]
She slowly blinked, and the next thing she knew, her finger had pressed the -Inventory- on its own. The screen shifted, words fading and changed by rows of boxes. The first had the image of a wooden bow, the second a wooden arrow, and the rest were empty.
There weren't any explanations, which was fine. She knew what this was well enough.
-Weapons-
Any weapon integrated into the system will be permanently stored into the -Glossary-. If integrated weapons are broken, they can be restored and taken from the -Inventory- after a set amount of time. All weapons have Mastery. Increasing Mastery to certain points will unlock new administrable effects in the specified weapons.
As of -Version 15.4.09-, previously consumable weapons like [Arrows] will be treated like conventional weapons.
The pain had subsided slightly, and she weakly groaned as she rolled those words in her head. She understood what it was saying, somewhat, though she'd still need to confirm if her assumptions were correct. With a small breath, she brought back the -Inventory- and brought her [Trainee Bow] out.
The air before her lit a bright blue for a second, before a wooden bow unceremoniously dropped onto her head.
[Trainee Bow (F)]
0% Mastery
A simple, wooden bow.
?
5 Damage 2 Blunt Contact Damage
Restoration Interval: 15 Minutes
She sighed. Was this system going to bombard her with a lot of numbers? She'd hoped not, but it seemed every weapon was going to have something like this. She could already feel the headache coming. She just hoped it wouldn't get any worse than this. Although, considering everything, she doubted that'd happen.
She tapped the [Wooden Arrow] next, and a glorified sharp stick fell onto the floor. The sharp edge landed just inches away from her eyes, which was a tad terrifying, but she quickly moved her eyes to its description.
[Wooden Arrow (F)]
0% Mastery
A crude, wooden arrow.
?
3 Pierce Damage
Restoration Interval: 3 Seconds
With most of the pain reduced to a dull ringing, she grabbed the wooden arrow. It felt real, as if it hadn't just magicked its way into reality. She stared at it for a moment, a small lump of hesitation building in her throat, before she slammed the arrow onto the ground. The thin sharp stick snapped with hardly any resistance.
The [Wooden Arrow] icon in the -Inventory- went dark, before it lit back up after three seconds passed. She tapped it, and again, an arrow formed into her hand, new and unbroken.
She was right it seemed.
[This tutorial has ended. Please proceed with the Mission]
And just like that, the array of messages disappeared in a blink, leaving her standing in this soot-filled cavern, a bow in one hand, an arrow in another, and an unfamiliar set of memories involving her usage of bows and arrows.
It was, in every sense of the word, bizzare.
…
"Well," She took a quick look around. There was nothing but her. "I didn't expect to wake up like this."
With a small, helpless sigh, she went on her way.
Hanami had gone on long trips before. Kuoh Academy was nothing if not adventurous. Field trips were a fairly common thing, and they ranged from museum visits to full on mountain hiking trips. They were fun, truly, though they left her legs aching for a week after.
This walk was a field trip on several layers of psychedelic drugs. Her clothes were sticky with ash and sweat, her arms held tight to her bow and arrow, and the ringing pain from minutes ago still lingered in the back of her skull. It all reminded her of those wild survival television shows she used to binge several years ago.
Not much had occurred however. It'd been mostly her and-
Suddenly, her body seized up, and as if on its own, she drew her arrow onto her bow and fired at her left. A soft groan sounded, and it took her seconds to realize that she'd somehow fired her arrow straight through the chest of a humanoid monster made of ash. It groaned, red eyes gleaming in the dark.
Another arrow formed in her hand, and she fired it straight at its head. The arrow landed just a tad too far right, slamming into its eyes. The thing let out a shriek before it finally fell onto the ground, convulsing as it broke apart.
She watched it all in silent horror.
She still wasn't quite sure what'd happened. How had she reacted so quickly? How had her body known where to shoot? Why was she so calm at all this?
…It was her [Archery, wasn't it? It took her a moment to dig through her head, but she eventually managed to recall months of training on her own in a forest, firing arrows at targets she could not see. Something she'd definitely not ever done.
And her system called this 'Basic'? Then what was Expert? Or Master?
She sighed. No matter. [Archery] was hers now. Real or not, those memories had aided her. That was all that mattered.
Walking over to the pile of ash, she noticed what looked to be a white ceramic plate sitting within the pile. It looked otherworldly, off-putting, as if someone had edited the image with no regard for how reality worked. Despite that, it felt familiar, and she reached forward and pulled the plate away from the pile.
[Glossary has been updated]
She blinked. -Glossary-? That was that last option she hadn't opened, wasn't it?
As if it'd heard her, another panel fluttered before her eyes, its bright blue sharply contrasting against the darkness of the caverns.
-Glossary-
A visualized collection of any and all things the user has collected and encountered. Fully completing a [Set] from the -Glossary- will give the user special rewards.
She gave the message a good stare before she smiled wryly. So, it was essentially a directory that stored descriptions. And it was rewarding her with things if she completed sets. She'd been calling the thing a system, but it truly was like a system in video games, huh?
Now then, what was new?
[Ashen]
Threat: Low
A shambling undead created from ash and kept together by lingering curses. Tends to move on their own. Weak to all types of damage. Especially weak to Holy.
Oh, it's surprisingly short. Still, what it gave was helpful.
That, and it said that Ashen tends to move alone. Which was great. She'd been worriedly looking around for more Ashen to jumpscare her. She wasn't letting her guard down; she'd never let her guard down, but it was relieving to know nonetheless.
And so she continued walking, occasionally stopping to punt a couple arrows into an Ashen's skull, idly watching as her weapons' Masteries slowly rose. The trek became oddly therapeutic after an hour or two. The initial pain she received from [Archery]'s grafting had faded, and the rush she felt from firing her arrows kept her thoughts from straying too far.
She did wonder where this 'Dethroned Shrine' was. Klavashka had a check mark next to it, so she could easily assume that this entire place she'd been brought to was named as such. The next line remained crossed though, and she'd been walking for hours by this point. Where was this thing?
Karma didn't answer, and she found herself walking for another couple hours or so. Her arrows slowly got more and more accurate the more she fired, her margin of error decreasing as she made herself familiar with the fabricated memories the system had shoved into her head.
Her Masteries had increased well, though she'd need several more days of usage before they reached completion.
Then, after what felt like days, the caverns finally expanded. Taking a deep breath, she brought forth an arrow, strung it onto her bow, and walked forward,
And she found herself in a small clearing, with a decrepit shrine standing in the center, led towards by a stone path lit by torches staked on its sides. It looked much like one of the old shrines she'd seen back in Kyoto.
Make it to the dethroned shrine [V]
[Tutorial Objectives has been accomplished. Further Objectives revealed]
Defeat the Decrepit Priest [x]
Free the Spirits of Arah [x]
Defeat the Ashen Lord [x]
…Oh, she did it.
[Returning to the user's home will become available after accomplishing the third objective]
She stilled. She could only go home after she killed the Decrepit Priest? She wasn't much of a game enthusiast, but having a special name meant that it was stronger than normal, right? Which meant that,
Thump
A large, bony hand grasped onto the roof of the shrine, and she could only watch as a monstrosity slowly rose from behind the ruined building.
The shrine soon collapsed, and Hanami found herself standing before a giant. It was as tall as her apartment building, wide lengthy arms and legs. Its body was pale and thin, its bones poking through its skin. It had no eyes. It had no ears. Its head was empty of hair. Its mouth stretched from cheek to cheek.
It was grinning, its yellow teeth showing.
It was hungry.
She took a step back, then two, then she turned, and all her hopes shattered.
The opening that'd led her here was closed, covered by fallen chunks of rocks. Her path of escape had been closed off. Slowly, she turned back,
And saw the priest leaning down to her, its grinning face just inches away from her head.
On instinct she let her arrow fly, and it landed just above the priest's face. The monster shot back, scowling as blood trickled down its head. With an inhumane growl, it turned back to her, its gangly fingers twitching erratically.
The battle had begun.
Immediately she strung and fired another arrow, but the priest knocked it aside. The monster roared and began running at her. She watched it approach, strumming another arrow onto her bow before she ran and slid under the running priest. She skid to a stop and fired the arrow onto the back of its head. Her arrow struck true, and it screeched as blood fell onto its back.
How was she doing this? Why wasn't she scared? Why was she so calm? Why-
She shut those thoughts away and brought out another arrow.
The priest was running at her again. She tried firing an arrow at the monster's knee, but the sharpened stick simply bounced off. The arrow was far too flimsy to penetrate the rest of its body, it seemed. Hanami was fine with that. Its head wasn't terribly defended.
She brought out another arrow, strung it,
And nearly had her head crushed by a boulder, one she narrowly swerved past. She quickly turned to see the priest lifting another boulder into its hand, its mouth twisted into an uncanny smile as it leaned back. It prepared another throw, its fingers digging into the stone.
It then shrieked as another arrow stabbed into its face, this time right into its forehead. It dropped the boulder in its pain, and the opening allowed Hanami to run under the pained beast and fire another arrow into the back of its head. It cried out, pained, before it began thrashing about, scraping the ground below and sending jagged chunks of stone flying through the air.
Hanami silently waited behind one of the boulders lying about the area, another arrow already strung on her bowstring. The moment the chunks of stone stopped flying about, she let loose another arrow. It slammed straight into where its left eyes would've been, and it screamed.
She didn't know how much damage she dealt. She didn't know how much more arrows she'd need to fire.
She didn't care. She strung another arrow and fired it at its lower jaw. It struck true. The priest shrieked.
Growling, it grabbed a nearby boulder and threw it, forcing her to move from her cover. The boulder she hid behind crumbled upon collision, and she fired an arrow at its left cheek in retaliation.
Suddenly, it crouched down, looking much like a cat. It looked ready to jump.
She strung an arrow. It leapt at her, both arms swiping to crush her. She ran forward, sliding below its swinging arms and firing her arrow at its lower jaw. The arrow struck true, and the priest screamed.
How was she evading so well!? She only trained in archery, right?! How was-
She shut those thoughts away and fired an arrow at the back of its head. It struck true.
The priest turned to her, its movement somewhat slower. She fired an arrow at its right cheek. It cried out and flinched back. She fired an arrow at its forehead. It cried out again, bringing its hands to its face. She fired an arrow through a gap between its fingers, stabbing just above its mouth. It cried. She fired an arrow at its lower jaw. More and more blood collected below its legs.
It weakly cried.
Her movements became automatic. She fired arrow after arrow, each striking into the priest's head. Its chest was completely covered in blood now, and more continued to collect beneath its feet. It eventually slumped down, its arms falling to its side. She continued firing her arrows, covering every inch of its face with sharp wooden arrows.
It looked grotesque, and the smell of iron was particularly strong now. She cared little, her mind distant. Her arms continued to fire.
She fired and fired and fired and fired and fired and fired.
Then, with one last arrow into its forehead, the Decrepit Priest finally fell, its body crumbling apart into shreds of white cloth.
Defeat the Decrepit Priest [V]
[Return to the user's designated home has been activated]
[Flawless bonus achieved. [Worn Ofuda] has been added into the inventory]
Blinking, Hanami placed her bow back into her inventory, watching as the weapon broke into shards of blue light. Silently, she walked over to the pile of shredded cloth, and she pulled out another white plate. This one glowed a dull green in her hands before it faded away.
[Glossary has been updated]
Sighing, she turned back to the second message she'd received and tapped it. The words shifted.
[Return?]
She tapped [Yes, and the world around her warped, twisting impossible as it faded away. The stone she stood over turned back to the wooden floor. The expansive cavern was replaced by the familiar walls of her apartment. The smell of iron and ash disappeared. The swelling heat was washed away.
She was back.
…
She was back.
She crumpled onto the floor as she heaved in a breath, the previous several minutes finally catching up to her. She didn't scream, nor did she cry. She was better than that. She'd trained for months to become stronger than that.
No she did not. Those memories were fake.
Fake. Fake. Fake.
Slowly, she turned to the window in her room, turning to see the bright skies outside, and she let herself laugh.
She needed a bowl of ice cream. Or five.
[Worn Ofuda (F)]
0% Mastery
An old ofuda, made from ink and paper. It seems to occasionally glow in the night.
?
6 Piercing Holy Damage
Restoration Interval: 5 Seconds
She hummed, scooping another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. It was a thrown weapon, and [Archery] didn't help with that sadly. She was still using it though. It was a Holy weapon, and the Ashen were especially vulnerable to that. She wasn't quite sure what that actually meant, but-
-Weakness and Resistance-
Most beings are weak to certain types of damage. Attacks that the enemies are weak to will deal double damage. Attacks that the enemies are especially weak to will deal quadruple damage. Some weapons and items can induce temporary weaknesses.
Most beings are resistant to certain types of damage. Attacks that the enemies are resistant to will deal half damage. Attacks that the enemies are especially resistant to will deal a fourth of the intended damage. Some items can induce temporary resistance.
…How convenient.
She ate another spoonful of her dessert and sighed. What the hell had she gotten into? What was A.I.M.? How had it created such vivid memories inside her? How had she moved and fought so well? How had she been so calm? She knew she had [Archery] and all, but was that alone capable of doing that? And it was at its lowest rank at the moment. What would it be like on the next rank? How would it be when she increased it to its maximum?
She didn't know.
She wondered if she'd done something in her past life. Was she so terrible to warrant this? Had she done something stupid perhaps?
She laughed to the silence of her apartment room. It didn't matter in the end. She got herself booted into a cavern, killed a giant monster that threw boulders around like it was nothing, and then got herself slammed back into her apartment room as if nothing had happened. She idly wondered when her life had turned into a comedy-
[Notice! The event [Dead Rising] has begun! Threat level: Low. Location: Kuoh Town. The event ends in: 4 hours]
"..."
Her eyes twitched. She turned a curious eye to her window. The bright sky outside had turned a sickly purple. The twitching got worse.
"I hate my life." She sighed, brought out an ofuda, and journeyed out into the altered town.
….
Did killing zombies count as murder or desecration? It didn't really matter, but she couldn't help but wonder so as she watched the undead crumble to dust.
[Zombie]
Threat: Low
A rotting corpse brought back to life through forbidden magic. Tends to move in small groups. Weak to Sharp and Piercing. Especially weak to Holy. Resistant to Blunt.
Probably desecration, she supposed. The -Glossary- specifically mentioned that it was a moving corpse and all. Then again, it told nothing about whether they retained their consciousness or not. Not that she'd ever delve into that internal debate. That would only open several cans of worms she'd rather not deal with.
Shrugging, she brought out another ofuda, grinning slightly as she glanced at the piles of dust surrounding her. 'Especially weak to Holy' indeed.
When she found her first group of zombies, she'd initially debated on whether she should make use of her ofuda or her bow. She didn't have a [Throwing] skill to aid her, and the zombies are weak to piercing. Still, she chose the former despite it all. She was rather curious as to what it'd do.
And she was certainly glad she was. Her throws were horrendous, but she slowly got better, and all she needed to do was close in and throw the ofuda straight into the zombies' chests, and if one got too close she could easily back away.
Still, she wondered just how the system was doing this. Was this still her Kuoh? Had her system recreated a fake Kuoh and forced her in? Was this something else entirely?
There were no other people. That she knew. She'd broken into a house out of curiosity, as you do, and she found not a single person inside. Other houses were similarly empty of life. It was rather eerie to see the usually lively town turn so dull, but she was grateful. As easy as this was, she held no illusions as to what'd happen if she didn't have her system to aid her.
…
A couple hours passed rather comfortably. She walked down the emptied streets, slaying any zombie she came across, switching between her ofuda and her bow to keep herself entertained. She tried heading into a convenience store once, mostly to grab herself a drink, and walked out with a couple dozen zombies slain. She kept to the streets thereafter.
Something had been bothering her for the past hour though. Some streets were more filled than others. Sometimes she'd be swarmed by several tens of zombies, and other times there'd only be a few. The zombies seemed to be heading somewhere as well, only turning to bite her when she came too close.
[The user's observation has been catalogued. Generating Timed Quest…]
She blinked. Her what now?
[Mission generated]
-Strange Observations-
The zombies seem to be moving towards an unseen spot. Something about it feels wrong. Discover where they are headed and end it.
Discover where the zombies are heading to [x]
?
Reward: Will be calculated after the event ends.
Flawless Reward: Additional points will be added into the final calculation
Mission will end in: 1 Hour, 43 Minutes, 12 Seconds
Her eyes widened. Ah, so that was what the system meant. And more than that, it also had a 'Flawless Reward'? That wasn't terribly difficult, but that was mostly because she attacked from a distance. What of the previous users who chose the other options? Or was the system giving her that because she chose the bow?
More and more questions. She filed them away for later.
She moved back to one of the more crowded streets she'd found, and just as before, a large horde of zombies were ambling through, each moving in unison. She watched them from afar, slowly following them when she deemed it safe.
It took far too long; the zombies were aggravatingly slow, but she eventually found herself in Kuoh Central Park, and her eyes went wide.
There were thousands of zombies. There was a bright purple diamond floating just above the fountain at the center of the park, and all the zombies were reaching for it, as if they were pulled in by it.
What was that thing?
Discover where the zombies are heading to [V]
Shatter the Shambala [x]
…that, seemed easy enough?
With a slight frown, she began climbing, the agility provided by her forged memories helping her clamber up the side of a random building. Safely landing on the roof, she brought out an arrow from her -Inventory-, strung it, aimed it,
And lowered her bow. Because after all, why would she attack such a beautiful thing? How scandalous of her! To destroy such a wonderful object was a crime punishable by the most painful of deaths. Ah, how foolish she was. She should be down there, together with her brothers and sisters, climbing towards the beauty to-
Wrong. That's wrong. Stop it. Stop. Those zombies aren't my siblings. Going down there will only get me killed.
Wrong? No, no, no! Certainly not! She needed to-
Shut. Up.
[The user's mind has won. [Mindless Devotion] has been resisted]
She sucked a breath and staggered back. That…was terrible. It felt as if she'd suddenly lost control over her own body, forced to watch as she moved to the roof's edge. She'd almost fallen, and she'd barely managed to snap back control. Had she been a second too late, she would've been a splatter down on the roads below.
She silently shivered. For a moment, she was overwhelmed by the need to embrace the Shambala, to bow down to it as if it was a god, to straddle it as if it was a lover. The sheer heat it sent through her nearly sent her to her knees.
[Mindless Devotion]. Frightening. How fitting.
With a small breath, she aimed her bow once more. The heat from before returned, asking her, begging her to come closer, but she forced it away and let the arrow fly. The sharpened stick flew through the air for a few seconds, before it crashed right into the Shambala, causing a large crack to form.
The zombies swarming towards it hadn't even noticed.
She strung another arrow and fired.
Crash!
The arrow landed right at the origin of the cracks, and it smashed right through. Chunks of purple crystal fell through the air, revealing the orb of energy that violently pulsed within it. Suddenly, her instincts screamed for her to duck behind the ledge.
She did, and a second later, a massive explosion rang out, followed by the strongest winds she'd ever seen. It swept through the skies, carrying with it various rotting body parts. She watched it all, her breath stuck in her chest as the seconds ticked by.
Then, eventually, the winds died down, and Hanami allowed herself to breathe.
Shatter the Shambala [V]
[The Mission -Strange Observations- has been completed! Calculating rewards…]
She laid on the roof for a few more seconds, simply breathing, before she gingerly looked past the ledge.
The Kuoh Central Park was no more. Every tree was swept away. The fountain had disappeared completely. The lights were picked up and sent crashing away. The streets and walls were aflame. The roads were littered with torn zombie parts, each of them burning, filling the air with a repulsive smell.
It was as if a nuclear bomb had detonated onto the park.
[Beginning calculations: 3477 Zombies slain, Shambala slain,
Her jaw fell open. 3477 zombies!? She killed over three thousand zombies from that blast!?
-Flawless Bonus added, Solo Bonus added, Early Bonus added. Totalling tally…]
[Tally confirmed. Completion Rank: S]
"...Nice." She smiled lightly. What else could she say to that?
[Appropriate rewards prepared. [Cosmic Ingenuity (A)] Skill Tablet, 50 Requims]
She blinked. [Cosmis Ingenuity] was it? And it was A Rank as well! That's probably good, right?
With an excited grin, she brought up her -Inventory-, and a new icon had been filled by a gold-colored tablet. She tapped it, and a golden plate formed in her hands. It was surprisingly heavy, and written all across its edges were these strange markings. They seemed rather important, though their meaning was lost to her.
[Cosmic Ingenuity (A)] Skill Tablet]
A magical tablet engraved with the skill [Cosmic Ingenuity]. Upon use, the skill will be engraved into the user's soul. The tablet will shatter after use.
-Warning! Usage is likely to cause unconsciousness. Caution is advised-
She gulped. The warning was noted.
[The event has finished. Return to the real world?]
-Warning! Upon clicking [Yes, the user will return to the exact spot the user is standing on-
Seeing that, she quickly scaled down the building she climbed. The repulsive smell grew stronger the moment she stepped onto the streets, but she endured and turned back to her system panel. She quickly pressed [Yes, and the world around her faded into light.
She then found herself back in the real Kuoh, standing on the streets. A woman blinked at her, most probably surprised at where she'd come from, but she couldn't care any less. She was back in the real world, and she had an A Rank skill sitting in her -Inventory-.
True, her life had proceeded from 'strange' to 'insanity', and she was fairly sure she'd just comitted genocide on those zombies, but this was an overall good stroll, she supposed.
With excitement building, she rushed back to her apartment room, locked the door, threw off her shoes, and brought out the Skill Tablet she'd gotten.
[Consume [Cosmic Ingenuity (A)] Skill Tablet]?]
She grinned. The answer was obvious!
[Yes]
A second passed, then two, and suddenly static filled her ears. Images flashed through her mind, searing heat coursed through her veins, and Hanami let out one last breath before she fell unconscious.