Chapter 1
It was my first day in Tokyo. A few days ago, a Japanese friend had invited me to visit him in the city and since England is very boring at this time of year, I decided to accept his invitation and bought a ticket to Japan. At twenty-five years old, I was still young and wanted to explore the world and have adventures, so the trip seemed like a good idea.
I had just left the airport, with my backpack in hand, when someone who looked like a homeless man ran up to me and tried to steal it. I quickly grabbed my backpack tighter as the man pulled once more. People on the street around us were looking at us in amazement, but no one seemed to have any intention of helping me.
"Let it go!" the man yelled at me in Japanese. I only had a basic knowledge of the language, but I managed to understand it.
"No way! It's mine!" I replied in English.
Too late I realized that his other hand was not empty. What looked like a large kitchen knife flashed in his hand moments before he buried it in my chest. A cry of pain escaped my throat and I dropped the backpack. The man turned away from me, ripping the knife from my chest and running down the street with my backpack in hand. The people who had been looking at us moments before were now screaming in terror.
Suddenly, my feet could no longer support me and I fell to the ground, while the crowd ran to help me.
God, my chest hurt so much. I hated this pain!
Confirmed. Pain Nullification… successfully acquired.
For some reason my chest burned, as if the blood pouring out of it was lava instead.
Shit, it was just so fucking hot!
Confirmed. Heat Resistance… successfully acquired.
The day had started off so well…and now I was going to be stabbed to death because a thug wanted my backpack.
I wish no one could hurt me like this anymore...
Confirmed. Physical Attack Resistance…successfully acquired.
I could feel darkness at the edges of my vision. I was going to die soon, that was for sure. My parents would be devastated. My brother Dani would probably get my room, the bastard. I wish I was a ghost so I could haunt him so he couldn't enjoy it...
Confirmed. Building a semi-spiritual body… Successful.
Most of the sensations in my body had already disappeared… only the cold remained. A terrible cold that chilled me to the bone...
Confirmed. Cold Resistance… successfully acquired. Combining with previously acquired Heat Resistance, progresses to Thermal Fluctuation Resistance.
And soon, even the cold disappeared...
There was only darkness in death… or so it seemed to me. I could feel myself floating in a sea of immense darkness… Who would have imagined that I would die in such a foolish way? Trying to look brave? I was just a bookworm, working in a little library in London; I was nobody special...
Confirmed. Unique skill "Librarian" … successfully acquired.
My friends, on the other hand, they really had achieved things... Jonah had become a great lawyer who defended rich businessmen in the United States; and Natsumi had tripled his family fortune in just two years since we had last seen each other. They were both married and happy... Why could they be rich, and happy, and could live while I was the one dying alone on a street in Japan? I wanted their riches; I wanted their happiness… I wanted their lives!
Confirmed. Unique skill "Selfish One" …successfully acquired.
That weird, robotic voice was the last thing I heard before I was completely lost in the dark.