A/N: Well this has been a long time coming... holy shit its been months.
Now to be honest after I decided to make a rewrite I lost a whole lot of Motivation to work on this, fun fact. 90% of this was written within the past 2 months.
For the long wait I genuinely apologize. But eh, here we are! I just hope that this fic can stand up to yall's expectations and hopefully exceed them too. And seeing as to how this is MUCH closer to my original idea compared to my last attempt, I hope you truly do enjoy it too. After all I'd be a shit author if I cant keep people entertained and write something of quality while I'm at it.
And special thanks to Draedon from the Shiro Discord for beta'ing this. Without his help this chapter would have been worse in terms of quality.
Now without further ado, enjoy!
[x]
Chapter 1: Humble Beginnings
Death, I concluded, was complete and utter bullshit. One would think that dying would at least bring some form of solace to my soul, like somehow passing into an afterlife and meeting your dead family or something—I would have looked forward to that at least—but the harsh reality of the situation was that sometimes we wished for the things we could not have.
As I sighed in the perpetual darkness around me, I realized that whatever hopes I had for death did not matter as much as they did in life.
"A plane crash? Of all the things in the world?" I say to nobody in particular. "You fuckin' kidding me? The safest mode of transport on Earth, and I FUCKING DIE!?"
I sighed once more and reclined my body into a more laid-back position—at least that's what I thought it was. I could've been upside down for all that mattered—and drifted aimlessly in the deep black of this otherworldly dimension.
Usually, people would reminisce on their life after death...their achievements, their greatest failures, their lingering regrets, etcetera etcetera. I, however, thought about the exact opposite.
"Can't say I have...or rather, had...that many achievements in life." I barked out a bitter laugh as I looked around. I may not have achieved anything truly noteworthy during life, but my regrets? I've gotten plenty of those throughout my almost two decades of life...honestly, I was probably the most one of the most remorseful men on Earth back when I was still alive.
I looked around the void surrounding me. "This sucks...this fucking sucks." Even while I was lamenting in silence, I accepted the terrible monotony for what it was, for what could I do in the blind eternity but wait? But despite all of this I felt…relieved. Relieved at not having to worry about the future anymore. It may have seemed callous, but I was simply glad to not have to worry anymore. That was perfectly human, right?
Having accepted my new reality I just...closed my eyes and wished for sleep. Yeah, that sounded kinda nice, didn't it? Sleeping. I could totally sleep right now...
[G-G-G-GAMER S-SYSTEM I̷̡̩̩̟̬͔͉̅̆̅͐͛Ń̸̡̛̎̾͐͊̆̀͝͝͠ͅṠ̷̒͑̋̀̒̽͋͑̄̄̕͜͝ͅŢ̷̞̖̤̬̃́̍Ą̶̢̞̲̘̳͕͍̺̦̱̪̈̉̌̏̐̈͐̔̓́̅ͅĻ̸̝̞͉̻͙̔́̓̋̆͝L̸̡̡͚̳̠͚͕͔͉͔̃́̌͑͛̂̋̃Ã̴̛͙͉̻̱̣́̓̾͌͘͝ͅŢ̴̛̣̬̏̅̀̀͆͑́͝I̸͚͖̿̊̋̎̒͒Ǫ̵̞͔̰̽͛̍̓̏̍̅͝N̵̗̳̺̟͎̥̈́̔͒͛͘͘ C-COMPLETE!]
[RE-REBOOT SEQUENCE COMPLETE—PERK RESEQUENCING C-C-COMPLETE!]
Before I could drift off into nothingness, a heads-up display spontaneously formed in front of me just as I blinked my eyes open.
"What the…"
[PERKS RESEQUENCE-D-D!]
Hunting (Adept) - You are skilled in hunting local fauna and can dispatch game with lethal efficiency.
[Tracks and disturbances in the local environment are all highlighted.]
[Can tell both the size and weight of the animal being hunted.]
Butchering (Novice) - The act of breaking down and dissecting animal carcasses into their base components.
[Average butchering time is one hour.]
[Medium chance to damage components (lowers rarity & quality).]
[2% chance for higher quality components and meat.]
[5% more parts and meat gained from carcasses.]
Firearms Handling (Apprentice) - You feel comfortable handling most firearms and can use them without much issue.
[You can handle all Firearms comfortably.]
[You deal 20% more damage with Firearms.]
[You take 5% less damage from Firearms.]
I blinked once. Twice. Then a third time. Rubbing my eyes roughly, I gazed back at the screen that was suspended in the void.
"Huh...it's not going away...weird," I muttered quietly. "What the hell is this?" I cupped my chin and stroked my nonexistent beard. An interface? Why is there a random video game interface hanging in the air?
...okay. Going insane it is then.
"You know, I thought I'd last at least a little bit longer before any symptoms of insanity set in, but color me surprised." My voice rang out in the limitless dimension and almost seemed to echo throughout the vast deluge of true dark. How large is this space anyway? Is it truly infinite or is this a fraction of a place of unlimited proportions? "Well, at least being insane will be far more entertaining than being sane in an infinite black void for all of eternity." I reasoned to myself.
[W-WARNING: REALITY TETHER ENCODING-G IS UNSTABLE! PLEASE TROUBLESHOOT IMMED—]
I frowned as the notification abruptly cut off. That didn't sound good in the slightest.
And what the fuck is 'reality tether encoding?'
[NEW-W-W PERKS SEQUENCED!]
It's safe to infer that the 'Resequenced Perks' were what I was proficient with before I died. This system seems pretty consistent for a man going insane, I guess.
[Gamer's Mind] - Grants immunity to mind control, brainwashing, and other foreign mental effects. Helps protect against mental illness.
I gave a hearty chuckle.
Who knew insanity could have such a sense of irony...was I...no, it couldn't be, could it?
[Gamer's Body] - Grants the ability to live life like a video game. You can only die once you pass the 0 HP threshold and you heal rapidly from normally irrecoverable wounds.
Called it. My insanity is making me into a video game character. Was I schizophrenic or something? I didn't seem to have voices in my head, but this interface was definitely affecting how I viewed the world.
"Well, worse things could happen I suppose. I could be hallucinating Hell and all its suffering, or even more intrusive voices in my head." I shrugged my shoulders before realizing that it was best I stop talking before I inevitably jinx myself.
[Observe] - Provides the user with comprehensive information about a selected target.
[CORE INSTALLATION COMPLETE!]
Hello…John.
My eyes widened as I heard a voice—a female voice—speak.
I nervously felt a bead of sweat trail down my forehead. "Uhhh...you do know I was joking about having a voice in my head, right?"
The voice was quiet for a minute, before giving off a light chuckle.
Okay, what the fuck is happening? I don't actually have voices in my head, do I?
Listen...I don't exactly have all that much time to explain, but the answer to your question is no: you aren't going insane and everything you have experienced thus far is genuine.
"But, I didn't even ask a question?" I stated with a hint of hesitation.
No, but you were thinking about asking it.
I opened my mouth to tell her off before I realized that, yes, I was about to ask her that exact same question.
Insanity shouldn't be this, well, coherent. So if this is all real...
I narrowed my eyes. "What...are you, then?"
Ironically, I don't know the full answer to that question as well.
She paused, seemingly deep in thought, before continuing.
Anyway, that isn't important right now. What is important is what's going to be happening in the next few minutes. Oh, and before you ask, you can just call me...Lilith.
Okay, seriously, what the actual fuck? Can she like, read my mind or something?
Yes.
I clicked my tongue. Probably should just shut the fuck up at this point.
Now, getting back on track. In the next five or so minutes, you're going to be...I believe the correct term used by most people is 'Isekai'd?' No, dimensionally displaced sounds more proper for this scenario. Eh, well, whatever works best for you.
That...made me pause. "Hold up, what was that?"
The Voi—No, Lilith, I mentally corrected, sighs.
Fuck it, I'm gonna sell this to you straight since it's the faster option right now and I'm pressed for time: You've been given a power that allows you to travel the multiverse and basically live your life as if you were a video game character...sort of. It's a lot more complicated than that obviously, but that's essentially the gist of it in a nutshell.
Well, looking back on it, it doesn't seem all that bad of a power, so...
"What's the catch?" I asked her aloud as I laid back and slung my hands behind my head.
W-Wait, you're just accepting it? You don't have any questions? Like, any of them at all?
"Well, duh, I mean, what the actual hell else could I do in a place like this?" I retorted while gesturing my arms around the extradimensional space. "Plus...this kinda thing has been a bit of a fantasy of mine since I was what, fourteen? So yeah, there's that." I added with a shrug.
I suppose that's fair enough. And to answer your question, there really isn't a catch.
I shake my head. "Bullshit, I know these sorta things always have a catch listed somewhere in the fine print. So what? Are you going to steal my soul? Enslave me? Force me to fight a battle against something you can't defeat?" I ask with an edge of suspicion in my tone.
Honest. There's no catch.
"Somehow, I doubt that." I sighed. Who in their right mind would give someone power if they expected nothing in return? That was simple bartering. It isn't like I can force her to tell me either, since she holds all the cards. I'm at her mercy here.
The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth. Leaving my fate and safety to someone else just didn't sit right with me, even if there was little I could do about it.
Anyway, there are a few more things to get out of the way.
[STAT DATA R-RESEQUENCED!]
John Eisen
Title — N/A
Level — 1
Race — Human
Class — N/A
Transcendence Tier — Mortal
HP — [1,000/1,000] (Regen: 100 Per Minute)
SP — [2,000/2,000] (Regen: 200 Per Minute)
MP — [2,250/2,250] (Regen: 150 Per Minute)
STR — 10
END — 10
DEX — 10
INT — 15
WIS — 15
CHA — 10
LCK — 5
Unallocated Points: 0
Oh, there it is...took the restructuring long enough.
"Huh, neat." It seems that I got a mix of MMORPG and DnD stats. Pretty cool. And the MP bar essentially confirmed that magic was an actual artform and most likely commonly practiced. Neat.
It seems that you're familiar with the basics of the stat sheet. Good. I wouldn't want to hold your hand through everything, but I'll still give you the basic rundown for your sake.
So, in sequential order, your stats are Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Luck. Each of these stats affects a certain aspect of your being dramatically. For your physical statistics, Endurance dictates your maximum health, Stamina, and SP, while Dexterity influences your overall speed and agility, and Strength obviously determines your full melee power and force.
Regarding your mental stats, Intelligence doesn't actually make you any more intelligent than you already are, but it does make things that require cognizant effort easier, such as when you are assembling a complex object or doing mental math. It also dictates how much Mana or MP you have. Wisdom affects your willpower, perception, and generalized knowledge and understanding of the world. You can think of it as a stat for how good you are at discerning things.
Charisma dictates how charismatic and attractive you are and affects persuasion checks when necessary. Luck is rather self-explanatory, but it can affect the rate of random encounters and tip the 'weight of fate,' so to speak, which will cause events to be in your favor.
I nod along with her explanations while listening intently to every word she says. It wouldn't do for me to not listen when one was so readily explaining something.
Now other than that, leveling up is also important. Leveling up twice will give you a single stat point in everything except luck. Besides that, you have access to a lot of classic video game abilities, like a personal hammerspace, a crafting tab, classes, quests, and a few other things.
"Crafting huh? Interesting..." I muttered. "I'm gonna have to try that out later."
Other than that, well...actually, that's about it. I think I've summarized everything important that you'll need to know from the start. When the time calls for it, I'll teach you about the more complex stuff residing in the system, like tiers and some other stuff. If you want to access your status menu, all you need to do is think 'Stats'.
I frowned. I would've liked a more in-depth explanation on certain points, especially for whatever the hell things like Transcendence Tiers are, or a more in-depth explanation of crafting.
Because it's not really necessary and we don't have the time, at least right now. I promise I'll explain all I can later.
I nodded. "No, it's fine. I just don't like being left out of important info, that's all. But it is what it is, I suppose...so, what's next?"
Well, normally we would go into race selection then character creation, but that system doesn't...really...work…
"What do you mean, 'they don't work?' Aren't you supposed to be some powerful being or a goddess or some shit?" That was about was I was inferring from our conversation so far. If Lilith had somehow found me in an infinite void, she must've had some sort of power within her, right?
I heard Lilith give out a deep and annoyed sigh.
If we get into the how and why we're gonna be here for a few weeks at best. The short answer is that the system I created is...well, it's still a work in progress, to be honest.
I had to resist the urge to yell in frustration. "So, translation: you gave me a fucking half-baked power that isn't even fleshed out yet?"
Do you want me to just—oh, I don't know, permanently lock the system language to Swahili or something?
Clamping my mouth shut, I shook my head no. It was probably for the best that I didn't anger my cosmic babysitter any more than I needed to.
Okay, glad to see we're on the same page. Anyway, just because you can't pick a race doesn't mean that character creation is hopeless. In fact, I've already made a character for you.
"Wait, wait, wait, what about my actual body? Why not just use that?"
Because it's currently resting at the bottom of the Atlantic being slowly broken down by bacteria and eaten by scavengers.
I suppressed a shiver of disgust. I...sort of forgot about that. Time is a little iffy in here. "Okaaay. Point taken…" I mumbled out.
Back on track. Considering race selection is...out of commission, so to speak, and character creation is already dealt with, that just leaves us with…
"Class Selection…" I finish for her. Considering my past experiences with MMO's and other RPG games, it's quite obviously the only thing left to complete for a new character.
Ding! Ding! Ding! You guessed it! Want a cookie?
"Yeah, some chocolate chip sounds nice right about now." I quip back.
Hehe. Alright, here are your options:
[Mage] [Warrior] [Monk] [Ranger] [Rogue]
I gave slight consideration to each one but disqualified Monk and Warrior almost immediately. While they could be useful, I'd rather play it safe and stick to either guns or other firearms, but there's also...magic. But then again, guns…
"You know what fuck it, I'm going to go with Ranger." Considering that I already have a perk for using guns and the fact that I was proficient in handling them, it was only logical that I might as well get some mileage out of it.
You have selected a class: [Ranger]!
Select Ranger Specialization:
[Gunslinger][Sharpshooter][Archer][Soldier][Trooper]
I cup my chin in thought. Specialization? It seemed that Ranger was a more comprehensive Class composed of several Subclasses. Gunslinger, Sharpshooter, and Archer are all relatively self-explanatory, but what are the Soldier and Trooper Subclasses?
Glad you asked. Trooper does more damage with heavy weaponry like LMGs, Grenade Launchers, Miniguns, Rocket Launchers, and, well, you get the idea. Soldiers do more damage with more medium-sized weapons like Assault Rifles, SMGs, Carbines, shotguns, etcetera etcetera.
"So it's literally as the name implies then. Alright, I can work with that." I nodded. I already had some experience with shotguns and Assault Rifles anyways, so my specialization was pretty obvious at a glance.
You have selected specialization: [Soldier]!
[Class Gained]
01/100 [Soldier] - Adept at fighting with medium-sized and more traditional infantry weapons, Soldiers are quite deadly within the confines of their niche. While not packing the shocking firepower of Troopers or the range of Sharpshooters, they are nonetheless not foes that should be taken lightly.
[Damage with Soldier-Class weapons is increased by 2%]
[Gain 1 DEX and 1 CHA per level]
[Class Skills Learned]
Last One Counts - The final bullet in a magazine always does double damage.
Spatial Shot - When a bullet is fired, can create 1-4 extra shots coming from the opposite directions. Dependent on LCK.
Costs - 10,000 MP
[Item R-Received]
AK-47 - A staple across most contemporary Earths, the AK-47 is a cheap, reliable, and easily-accessible firearm. Though somewhat dated for the current era, it is still viable for common use as a weapon.
500x AK-47 Rounds.
1x Gun Cleaning Kit.
I nodded readily. I can work with this...now all my status depends on is where I get Isekai'd to.
Well, looks like that's everything covered then! I hope you're ready, cause we're about to start!
I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Hold up, where am I being isekai'd to? You never really told me…" I trailed off.
That's because it's random. Well, for the most part, at least. I promise you won't end up on a tomb world without any resources.
"Oh, that's...wait, what the fuck!?"
It's long and complicated. Trust me, I'll tell you later. For now, just sit back and enjoy the ride.
[Universal Fractaline Pathways: Engaged]
Isekai in:
5
4
"GOD FUCKING DAMNIT, LILITH!" I screamed, my heart racing in panic as adrenaline soared through my veins. My mind ran through the couple dozens of worst-case-scenarios–impact with the ground? Not likely. Telefragging? Possible within the confines of the teleport, fuck.
3
2
1
"I swear to fucking God Lilith, if I get Isekai'd to 40k or fucking SCP of all places, I'm going to be pissed," I growled out. "Don't fuck this up please!"
[Universal Transmigration Engine: Online]
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Please don't be 40k or SCP. Please don't be, please, please, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.
Before I knew it, everything went white.
As my consciousness returned to me, the only thing I could understand was that I felt utterly horrible. My head felt as if someone decided to drag me to the street and curb stomp it while I was recovering from the mother of all hangovers. My ears were ringing, my stomach was doing backflips, and my vision was blurry to the point I couldn't make out shapes. Everything just seemed to have frayed edges all of a sudden.
Before I even realized it, I was awake again. I was sat up on the frigid ground and dry heaving as my body went to attempt to expel something that wasn't even there.
"Urghhh...I'm gonna...fuck...!" I groaned as I went in for another retch. "Ah, shit…" For what felt like an eternity, I was nearly blind, dizzy, in extreme discomfort, and moderately cold...for some reason. Just where did the transmigration send me?
"Uhhh...sonuvabitch...it's finally over." I panted out. My pounding headache was subsiding and so was my dizziness and nausea from the sudden relocation. My ears were still ringing and my vision was going to be out of commission for maybe another minute, but it would pass eventually.
"...rdian?!...uardian?!" I heard the faint whir of machinery and questioned who was saying that to me. Did I even hear anything? Was I just hallucinating? Was it Lilith? Was it someone else?
As I blinked out the last of the blurriness in my vision, I came face-to-face with something very familiar that sent my recovering mind racing in a burst of serotonin. A concerned-looking construct was hovering a few inches above my face, a glowing blue eye flitting about slightly as it examined my most likely roughed-up appearance. The small orb was surrounded by white polygonal fins that twitched slightly, its back fins spinning around as it floated closer.
Oh, well...shit. I know where I am now. Because unless I'm tripping absolute balls on that good shit—which I'm pretty sure I'm not—then what's in front of me is a Ghost. A Ghost from Destiny, a video game looter-shooter set in a post-apocalyptic version of the solar system. And a game that I thoroughly enjoyed even with all its faults.
"Ohhh, fuck…"
"Guardian! Are you...okay?" A light–almost adolescent–synthetic voice came out from the ghost.
And I'm a Guardian that's…actually hold up a minute, that's amazing! Not only do I get space magic, but I also get to be basically immortal! Fuck yeah!
Destiny itself is…meh—not bad, not great—but the most important question that would affect what happens later on in my 'playthrough' is figuring out where and when in the timeline I'm at. But for the multiverse? I'm basically immortal, and that's fantastic!
Oh shit, I just realized, didn't the Last City get to kill Oryx in The Taken King DLC? And wasn't he a god? I might be fucked if I don't get to a safe enough level in both my stats and class level.
"Uhh, yeah..." I coughed "...Yeah, I'm alright. Um, what exactly are you?" I asked, already knowing the answer but feigning ignorance. Can't show my hand too early.
The ghost bobbed its small chassis up and down. "I'm a Ghost, or rather, your Ghost now…you were dead before I found you." The construct let out several high-pitched whirs. "...and you…well you're a Guardian now. My Guardian. And it's my job to help you."
[Guardian Race Gained!]
[Guardian Race Leveled up!]
01/10 [Guardian Warlock]: Warlocks are an order of guardians with powerful ties to The Traveler's arcane power. Often called 'space wizards,' Warlocks seek to understand the greater nature of The Traveler and the Universe around them. The pursuit of knowledge is their greatest power.
[You can now learn all Warlock powers and subclasses!]
[Gained Access to Perk: Void Light (Novice)]
[Skill Learned!]
Palm Blast: Launch a devastating wave of concussive energy from your palm.
Damage: 100 + STR & INT.
Cost: 500 Mana.
Stats Increased!
STR + 5
END + 5
DEX + 10
For what felt like the third time in the last five or so minutes, I got another splitting headache that makes me want to retch. Thankfully, it only lasts two or so seconds, as the knowledge of some of my new abilities settles into my mind...there was surprisingly little I could do currently though.
Well, fuck. The only thing I could really do right now is manipulate the mass and gravity of objects slightly and the basic Warlock melee. The former wasn't in the game, only the lore, but the latter one is decent enough, and from what I'm seeing it does some great damage if applied correctly.
Building on that info, it seems that I'm a Warlock, which is great when one considers that they're the actual space wizards of Destiny. And they do have some kickass-looking armor from what I recall.
Looking at the other notification, it seems that I also gained a bit of a minor stat boost, which makes sense, considering Guardians are pretty much superhuman lore-wise.
Taking a shaky step forward, I begin to hear snow crunching underneath my...boots? Now that I'm not, uh, preoccupied anymore, I can feel clothing—no, not clothing, armor—completely encasing me, with a barebones heads-up display being projected into my helmet's visor. The upper left-hand corner of the HUD included a blue triangle inside a semi-transparent circle, which I immediately recognized as the radar system from Destiny...and that was about it. There weren't any ammunition counters or other gauges on the display, just that map for me to use.
My built-in UI seemed to shift slightly to accommodate the radar, the text and info moving slightly to give me better visibility for it.
"This armor?" I asked the floating ghost who was still staring at me. With him as my only company currently—and where is Lilith?—I figured that I might as well try to get on the good side of my cheat-death-inator.
My question seemed to have knocked it from its stupor as it floated to eye level, bobbing its chassis up and down slightly in a facsimile of a human nod.
"Yes, but it's only a quick fieldweave I synthesized from nearby parts. It'll keep you safe from the elements but not much else I'm afraid, so try not to get into a fight with it." My ghost sounded quite bashful while admitting that he only got the armor from salvaged parts.
I nodded. "Got it." I looked around for the first time since I got here, pushing back the dozens of questions I was burning to ask for the time being. Right now, gathering my bearings came first. Who knew what sort of environment I was in? Was this even Earth? Could it have been an alien planet altogether? Questions for another time, I suppose.
Above me, there was a massive slab of concrete that stretched far into the horizon that was only supported by crumbling pillars. The bridge seemed to have dozens of holes and collapsed foundations amidst the rubble, and there were a lot of rebar spikes protruding from the concrete wreckage and bent trusses. The old structure looked to be a superhighway of some kind, and judging by its current state of disrepair, it has long since fallen into ruin since the Collapse. Or so I assume.
So far, it doesn't seem that I'm near where the Guardian from the game woke up…which could mean a lot of things, not all of them great. I shook my head harshly and immediately regretted it as I felt a wave of nausea fall over me.
Nausea or not, that train of thought can come later, when I'm finally safe, I thought.
The next thing that caught my attention was the sheer amount of fluffy white snow that graced the ground I walked on. As far as the eye could see, it was just white plains of snow and some icicles and flurries of frostbite that bit at the terrain. Eddies of wind picked up some of the powdery snow as it blew past me, depositing some on my new armor.
You know, this really doesn't help narrow down where I'm at…like at all.
And it's cold as fuck too. Like I can feel it through my armor...where the fuck am I? Pluto? Sedna?
I paused. Actually, knowing the setting I might actually be on Pluto.
Huh. Well, fuck, let's hope that's not the case.
Giving an irritated sigh, I push that errant thought back and scan around for anything to help me get atop the superhighway above. My endeavor ends up bearing fruit when I spot a service ladder not too far from me. I could reasonably use it to climb the columns that the bridge above was held upon.
"Okay...I'm gonna use that ladder over there." I pointed at said object for emphasis. "...to get on top of this superhighway. I need a better vantage point, and that seems like a good place to start."
"Sounds like a plan." My robotic companion nodded again.
"So...uh...I didn't get your name?" I ask the Ghost awkwardly as I walk to my target.
I mean, I was sort of preoccupied attempting to not spill my guts out and having the headache of a lifetime, so one can forgive me for not prioritizing learning my Ghost's name.
The thought of having my own Ghost excited me, not only because I was a Destiny fanboy…but an immortality machine! Like, seriously! Who wouldn't want one? I could imagine a few isekai protagonists would happily sell their left nut for one!
" ...everyone at the tower called me Flare so...I stuck with it." He looked away slightly and twitched before looking back at me.
"So...what about you? Guardians lose their memories after rising, but on rare occasions, they can remember at least their name…but well...uhm, it's fine if you can't though! I won't really...uh, mind... " The newly named Flare trailed off.
I decided to save the little machine before he could make it more awkward for himself.
"I remember my name was John. John Eisen." I smiled at the little immortality machine hovering above my shoulder. "Flare, huh? Cool name."
Flare made an excited electronic chirping noise. "Really?! You think so? I always thought it was a bit…unoriginal." His fins whirred. "But if you like it, then it can't be that bad."
I let myself smile some more and felt my eyes gain a little more light to them. Honestly, he seemed like a little kid, from his voice to his mannerisms. Cute little guy.
Before we could banter more, I came up to the ladder. It had visibly rusted and had definitely seen better days. Several of the steps were missing and what was left was frozen over and probably would give anyone who climbed it a heart attack. But I needed a vantage point as soon as possible, so I swallowed my hesitation, and with a groan of tortured metal, I climbed up.
A few minutes and three close calls later I climbed the final step. The highway was, as one would expect, pretty much falling apart and tearing at the seams. Most of the concrete barricades were—if one squinted—barely able to even be called rubble. Cars were haphazardly strewn all over the place, overturned and rusted to the point it could give me tetanus by just touching it. The trusses that the highway was constructed upon were well-worn and wouldn't last another few years without maintenance.
The rest of the highway was covered in almost knee-high snow, and it spoke volumes of whatever materials were used to build this thing that it hadn't collapsed fully yet.
"Well, this is about as much as I expected." I looked around. "Nothing really—Whoa..." My jaw dropped to my feet.
Hanging in the sky above the horizon was a view I truly never expected to see.
That was Jupiter that was hanging in the sky. The bands of cream and brown-colored gas were unmistakable to the naked eye. There was an irate crimson circle swirling on the left side of the gas giant, the colossal anticyclonic storm of the Big Red Spot standing at attention.
"H-Holy shit." I choked out, transfixed with rapt attention on the sight before me.
It was at that point everything truly sunk in. I was in Destiny.
I had just died.
I never made up with my sister. My one and only blood relative left that I ever gave a damn about.
I-I...I...
No. Deep breaths, John. In and out.
"It's beautiful, right?" Flare's voice came from my right shoulder as I started to inhale and exhale silently.
"Y-Yeah, it is." I agreed as I eagerly grabbed a hold of the potential for small talk to distract myself with. "So where…where are we?" I lamely asked my ghost.
"Well, we're on Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System."
Oh.
Well…shit.
"I...see." I nodded distractedly.
I'm on Ganymede and that, well, that was a problem. I knew jack-shit about Ganymede—at least the Destiny version—and it was never really expanded upon in-game beyond being mentioned once or twice.
I have zero knowledge to work with.
Ain't that a grand old time, huh?
I turned away from the admittedly gorgeous sight to look at my Ghost, Flare. "So, what can you tell me about Ganymede?" I needed info, badly. Everything else could wait until I was safe and had a plan.
A couple of electronic chirps came from my shoulder. "Well, before the Collapse, Ganymede's primary industry was shipbuilding. It was apparently one of the more populated worlds in the outer solar system too...though we don't have an exact figure."
I hummed in acknowledgment as I spotted what looked like a city in the distance. The crumbling highway that I found my way on top of seemed to lead to it, in fact. Already beginning to think of a course of action, I started to head down the highway towards the city I spotted.
Other than the city in the distance and the gas giant Jupiter, there was a small pinprick of light high in the sky that was around the size of a pea, and I was willing to bet my right kidney that it was the Sun.
It was a weird thing seeing the sun so...so small. It felt wrong. I suppose contemporary Earth life does that to you.
"Anything else can you tell me about Ganymede, Flare?" I asked.
"No, not much else I'm afraid...we lost a lot during the collapse." You could practically hear the guilt in his voice.
I nodded. The shortage of information was a major problem, but overall, what I had so far was already good enough to form a working plan. A former shipbuilding industry meant a likely way off this moon, and more importantly, a path to the Tower and the Last City. Probably the only places I would ever be safe.
I'd probably be on this moon for a little while longer though, depending on where in the timeline I'm at. Hopefully, I could be a good amount of time before or after the Red War or I could be in the in a period of time before the games.
I, of course, still had to feign some ignorance regarding what was happening. "So…" I thought how best to phrase my question without sounding suspicious. "What do we do now?"
Flare made a high-pitched chirping noise. "Oh! I completely forgot! We have to find a way back to the City!" His fins floated and spun around him slightly.
I kept my act up. "City?"
Flare nodded. "The Last Safe City. It's where the last remnants of humanity live." I could hear a tinge of sadness in his voice. "It's located on Earth, right underneath the Traveler. We have to get there as soon as we can; the rest of the Solar System isn't safe."
Okay, so I'm not too far from the main timeline then. Suffice to say, I'm relieved that I didn't get reincarnated into the Dark Ages right after the Collapse. I did not want to deal with a bunch of super-powered warlords.
"So, what's the plan then Flare? How do we get to the City?" If Flare has a similar plan to mine, that would be great. Hopefully he has a way off Ganymede so I don't need to look around for a ship.
Can...Can I even learn how to fly one in a reasonable timeframe? Spaceships are way different from planes and even then I remember flying a plane was complicated as all hell.
Sure you can.
I nearly jumped from Lilith's voice in my head but I kept it under control. I'm unsure about how Flare would react to someone else's presence, and I'd rather not find out.
The glorified nightlight shouldn't even be able to detect me, don't stress it.
And to answer your question, if you had a manual, you could probably learn how to fly a ship in under a few hours, give or take.
Trial and error may take longer though...
Well, that clears that up.
…
Also, where the hell were you for the past fifteen minutes?
Tying up some loose ends.
Seeing as how she's not going to explain further, I leave the annoyingly cryptic voice in my head alone and turn back to Flare.
"Uhm…I don't think it's far enough along to call it a plan…it's more of an idea."
I made a gesture with my hand. "Go on."
"Well, we can find a ship and get to the city, but failing that, we could...uhmm…steal one."
Steal one? I'm guessing he means stealing a ship from the Fallen or whatever flavor of alien species is on Ganymede. I never actually thought about stealing a ship, but it could be a good backup plan if things go awry. Something to remember for later.
Before I could respond to the Ghost though, a sharp crack echoed through the air and many things happened at once.
My radar suddenly went red.
A blast of translucent bluish-white light washed over the area and dissipated into the distance.
A small crunch of snow to my side drew my attention and I saw the charred smoking chassis of Flare resting in the powdery white snow, his glowing cyclopean blue eye now black and dead.
The sudden feeling of immense vertigo and weakness hit me like a sack of bricks and I fell to my knees, disorientated and weak.
A rush of notifications filled my vision along with a chittering roar that sounded like it came from a place not too far behind me.
[WARNING! PERK: VOID LIGHT. HAS BEEN WEAKENED]
[ERROR! PERK: VOID LIGHT. CANNOT BE DOWNGRADED ANY FURTHER]
[PERK: VOID LIGHT. LOCKED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!]
"Wha—What?" I choked out as I read my notifications.
I quickly shook my head and exhaled. I was still a bit disoriented, but it faded just as quickly as it appeared. My body still felt a bit weak but that could be easily dealt with later. With no small amount of effort, I stifled my rising sense of panic and fear.
No, survive now, panic later; panic is the very antithesis of survival.
With a deep breath, I pushed myself off the ground, my arms and legs covered in a thick powdery layer of snow. Craning my head back, I spotted my enemies.
Fallen.
Fuck.
"Lilith, how do I access my inventory?" I needed my AK, and I needed it now.
Just imagine what you want to either nab or pull into your inventory and think of the word 'Inventory.'
I closed my eyes and a mental image of an AK-47 appeared. Opening my eyes once again, I was filled with the sight of green lines and motes vanishing into nothingness. In my gloved hands, I felt the reassuring weight of an AK-47 and its polished wood and metal glistening slightly in the alien atmosphere.
Bringing the gun to my shoulder, I took aim at the Fallen in front of me and hit it with a [Observe].
Fallen Dreg
Level — 5
Tier — Mortal
Race — Eliksni
HP — [2,000/2,000]
STR — 13
END — 15
DEX — 8
INT — 9
WIS — 6
CHA — 3
LCK — 7
Tanky little fuck.
Prepared for the sudden bout of recoil that would come from firing the antique weapon, I pull the trigger. With a loud bang, a short burst of rounds flew out of my gun and impacted my target.
432 Damage Done!
[DAMAGE REDUCED DUE TO ENEMY ARMOR!]
I dived behind a nearby rusted car for cover and stayed behind the barrier for a moment or two. Peeking from the cover, I hit the dreg with [Observe] once again.
Fallen Dreg
Level — 5
Tier — Mortal
Race — Eliksni
HP — [1,568/2,000]
STR — 13
END — 15
DEX — 8
INT — 9
WIS — 6
CHA — 3
LCK — 7
Not bad damage, but anyone from Earth would have been dropped easily by three bullets from an AK-47.
The Dreg seemed to recover from being shot and turned towards the car I was hiding behind. With a fluid motion, it pointed its arc pistol at me as I ducked back into cover, electrical rounds whizzing past the location where my head would have been a split second ago.
Crawling to the opposite end of the car, I shot up from my cover and unloaded into the dreg that was focused on my previous location. Sparks flew from where it was hit as it staggered backward, the impacted rounds spewing forth purple blood from its wounds.
1,728 Damage Done!
Overkill!
EXP Gained!
[Class: Soldier has Leveled up!]
The dreg stumbles back a bit, their wounds leaking a purple ichor from the various holes in their body, and glares at me with their alien visage before going limp and falling in the snow dead.
I almost dropped my gun as the shock and adrenaline accumulated from my skirmish with the Fallen slowly began to wear off. Taking a steady breath, I went to investigate the dregs corpse. But before I did that, I glanced up to the left-hand corner of my vision as a red blip made itself known on my radar.
My eyes widened as I heard a loud chittering screech at my side.
"Wha—!"
You have taken 500 Damage!
An immense pain blossomed in my left side. Looking down at my abdomen, I saw a knife embedded in my stomach, with a rapidly expanding blotch of crimson red fluid soaking the brown weave that made up my armor.
As for the one who stabbed me? It was another dreg.
You have taken 150 Damage!
Inexplicably, the pain intensified as I spotted sparks and electrical arcs coming off of the dagger as if a generator had just been hooked up into it. My eyes widened in the realization that I had just been stabbed with an arc dagger. With a wet-sounding twist, the dreg pulled out the knife, the agony I was experiencing doubling as the edge of the blade tore at my flesh.
You have taken 50 damage!
With an enraged snarl, I brought up the hand that held my gun and unloaded the magazine point-blank into the dreg, its armor sparking for a split second before purple blood exploded out from the dozens of new holes in its body. I kept firing the weapon, right up until the AK began to click empty and the light in the dregs eyes died as it dropped into the snow with a light crunch.
2,592 Damage Done!
Overkill!
EXP Gained!
[Class: Soldier has Leveled up!]
"Fuck, holy fuck, ARGHHH!" I clutched my free hand tightly to my side as I attempted to staunch the bleeding.
It hurt! It hurt so fucking much!
"Gahhh!" I bit off another snarl as my side began to twitch uncontrollably, the pain increasing with each spasm.
Seriously?! What the fuck did that dreg stab me with?!
I retracted my hand from my side and the cold began to seep through the wound, numbing the pain slightly. With both of my hands now free, I ejected the empty magazine from the AK before in a flash of green motes, a new, fresh magazine appeared in my hand. Pulling back the bolt I chambered in a new round.
There was still a bit of red on my radar, meaning another enemy was nearby.
As if on cue, I heard a loud thunk of metal as I turned around and aimed my gun.
A third dreg.
"Oh they're all crawling out of the woodworks now, aren't they?" I angrily hissed out. "Fucking hell."
Before the dreg could even take aim, I unloaded a stream of bullets into his head. A few of the shots missed from my inaccuracy, but most of the shots hit at least somewhere important on the body. The final shot had been fired from my weapon after the recoil aimed my reticle towards their chin, with the bullet impacting a rebreather on the dreg's face and causing the alien to fall to the ground dead.
It didn't get back up.
CRITICAL HIT!
2,200 Damage Done!
Overkill!
EXP Gained!
You have leveled up!
Loot Gained:
2x Fallen Cloth Scraps
1x Minor Healing Potion
I nearly collapsed back on my knees, the pain in my side was lessening—whether it was the cold, Gamer's Body regenerating it, or both, I had no clue and I frankly couldn't be bothered to care.
"Son of a bitch!" I yelled out in pain as the adrenaline wore off and I spotted the still smoking Flare resting in the snow.
As I grabbed Flare's wrecked chassis, the reality of the situation hit me like a freight train.
I'm in Destiny. A place that's chock-full of almost half a dozen various flavors of aliens that are almost always hostile to human life.
I'm now ghostless. The immortality machine that could have easily made this entire world and more so much easier just got killed.
I'm stuck on a hostile planet with permanent sub-zero temperatures, surrounded by aliens that want to kill me.
I've lost access to my Light. For whatever little use I could've had for it, it still would've been useful.
"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!" I roared.
It took a little while of trudging through knee-high snow before I felt the effects of my armor breach in full. My wound was fully regenerated and had been healed for a while now, but the cold that was seeping in through the punctured cloth in my armor was a major problem.
Ganymede's temperature was—from what I could tell—firmly in the negatives with a massive wind chill. The cold seeped through my broken armor and the layer of clothes beneath my protective gear, directly onto my bare skin.
In short, I was supremely uncomfortable.
"L-Lilith...when do I fucking get that c-cold resistance thing." My teeth clattered lightly as I tightly held my hand to my side to prevent the worst of the wind from entering my armor.
Soon… and for the third time, I can't control when and how you get your resistances.
"N-Not my fault for wanting to be a bit w-warmer."
God, I fucking hate the cold.
New Resistance Gained!
01/100 [Cold Resistance] - Indicates your resistance to lower temperatures. Higher levels will decrease the effects cold weather has on you.
"Oh, fucking finally!" I let out a cold breath at the sight of the new resistance.
I didn't feel any different, but then again it was at level one so I doubt I'd actually notice the change.
Still, every little bit helps.
I lost track of time as I kept on my path to the city. The only sounds that accompanied me were my heavy breathing, clattering teeth, and howling wind.
I was alone with my thoughts, for once.
No, you're not!
...you don't count.
Oh, John! How you wound me so! Why, I thought you were absolutely...crazy for me.
"Ha-ha-ha, I'm absolutely dying of laughter right now," I responded with all the dryness of a desert. "You're one hell of a comedian, you know that?"
Oh well considering you're stranded on a moon and talking to yourself I would say you're a bit of a luna-tic.
Oh my fucking god, you're worse than Yang.
Ah, how would you—
"Lilith, one more insanity pun out of you, and I start imagining vore."
Heh. Do it, I can filter out your thoughts.
God fucking...just leave me alone for a bit okay?
Fine, I still have some more...loose ends to tie up, have fun~!
Now truly being alone with my thoughts, I began to think back on the events that transpired today.
It still feels strange to know I've actually been Isekai'd. It feels like a dream, to be honest. But all I have to do is look up at Jupiter hanging in the sky or remember the sheer pain I felt when I got stabbed to know that wasn't the case.
In my free hand, the remains of Flare appeared in a flash of green motes.
I don't know what compelled me to take him with me on my little escapade. Perhaps it was some fleeting hope that I could fix him or get him fixed in the city?
I'm still not quite sure, to be honest.
In a flash of green, his shell vanished back into my inventory.
So much has happened today. Dying on my way to a vacation paid for by my friends wasn't part of the plan.
Getting what amounts to easy power and being dumped into what I thought was a fictional universe was also unexpected, but surprisingly, I was fine with it.
I always loved Isekai's and the like; knowing what to expect makes it somewhat easier when you get to experience the genuine article.
No, the biggest source of concern for me was the power and the voice in my head that accompanied it. Back when I was still in that void, the messages were, for lack of a better term, glitched.
While Lilith told me it was still a work in progress that doesn't explain the garbled text or the stuttering. No...something else is going on in the background, but frankly, I can't do anything about it now.
I won't be so trusting as to accept the words of a being I just met not even a full hour ago, but I can at least trust she has my best interests in mind. Well, for now at least.
But I have more pressing concerns at the moment. Namely, figuring out how in the ever-loving fuck I am going to survive.
My overall plan hasn't changed. Get a ship and get out of dodge. But how exactly I'm going to achieve that is still up for debate.
[Quest Received!]
Hostile World Survival
You have found yourself on a rather hostile world. Survive and find a way to the Last City in one piece.
Objective: Survive.
Bonus Objective 1: Weaken the influence alien powers have on Ganymede.
Bonus Objective 2: Reach level 100 before leaving.
Bonus Objective 3: Take no damage before leaving. [FAILED]
Rewards: Survival, 20 Assorted Stat Crystals, 5 Level Crystals, 5 Gacha Tokens, Unlock the option to [Observe] celestial bodies.
Bonus Rewards 1: +2 Standing with Faction: Vanguard, 5 level crystals, 1 Epic+ Gacha Token.
Bonus Rewards 2: [Survivor] Title, 5 Assorted stat crystals, 1 Loyalty crystal.
Failure: Death.
I gulped as I read what would happen if I failed.
I could actually...well, die. And it would probably be far more painful than...well, dying how I did the first time. It was so fast I didn't feel a thing.
Now though?
I had a multitude of horrendous deaths that could potentially await me.
But the rewards though...
"Lilith?" I asked. "Can you tell me what all these crystal things are?"
Stat Crystals simply increase the stat they are connected to. For example, a Charisma Stat Crystal will increase Charisma while a Strength Stat Crystal will increase Strength.
Level Crystals level you up at least once no matter what.
Gacha tokens are self-explanatory, they allow you to pull items from a set pool of prizes in the gacha...that's essentially it.
Loyalty Crystals affect the Standing/Affection/Obedience system. In this case, they can increase Obedience with the selected person you target with the Crystal.
You can get all of these rarely from drops, but quests give far more of them than you could get with random loot.
As I trudged on through the snow, I racked my mind for potential ways I could approach these.
Level Crystals seem like rare candies from Pokemon, so I should obviously save those for later and use them only when needed. Stat Crystals seemed extremely useful and I should keep an eye out for those. I want to see if I can build up a reserve of those and use them during combat or beforehand if I need to give a nasty surprise to someone...
Gacha though...that could be exciting depending on what's in it, but that's honestly a two-way street there. I could either get something irreversibly broken or something absolutely useless.
A shiver went down my spine as a particularly cold gust of wind blew against me, the icy air seeping into me.
02/100 [Cold Resistance] has leveled up!
Oh hey, that finally leveled up.
Anyways, getting back on topic. I need a more solid plan than what I have currently.
First step, find some shelter that is protected from the elements—
I was interrupted by a loud growl from my stomach.
Correction: I need some shelter, food, and water.
Second step, Find a gun from this universe—any of them will do.
My AK-47 may have saved my ass, but it barely killed a bunch of dregs. And seeing how little it did against them, I'm worried that if I run into a Cabal or a Fallen Captain I might as well be slinging pebbles at them for what good it'll do.
Final step, find a ship and get to the Last City.
I may have skipped a couple of steps, but for now, that base outline will do just fine.
With that in mind, I picked up my pace as I drew closer to the city.
It took me five hours to get to the city. Five whole hours of below-freezing temperatures and winds, with my legs becoming numb from dragging them through knee-high snow, and my skin was starting to become paler from being so exposed to the cold. The biggest issue though?
I was hungry.
And I had no food on hand...
But that was a problem for later.
In front of me was what seemed like the highway's entrance to the city. Rusted cars and metal trusses were piled up higher than before, and the snow seemed a tad thinner here too.
I climbed over the heap of vehicles that were blocking my way, the rusty metal creaking with each of my steps as I hoisted myself over them. A cloud of fine red dust was clinging to my brown armor, staining it slightly.
I sighed in irritation and kept to the path, with one of my eyes always glued to my radar for any potential danger.
The city up close was a sight to behold. The crumbling buildings seemed to reach into the heavens as the decrepit gray skyscrapers cast a vast shadow over the city. The air was still and eerily quiet, the only noise being the sound of crunching snow beneath my boots and my own heavy breathing.
Damn...this place is already starting to give me the creeps.
I paused as I spotted something interesting on a nearby wall. There was faded white lettering painted upon an orange industrial door with a broken knob hanging listlessly from its handle. It was in Russian...I think. It was either that or some other form of Cyrillic. I'm not exactly what you would call an expert in linguistics so I can't really tell. Most of the text was hopelessly faded, but it shed a bit of light on the former inhabitants at least.
[Quest Received!]
A Rough Start
Seems like you've gotten pretty unlucky with your start. Find shelter and claim a base.
Objective: Claim a base.
Rewards: Higher chance of survival, 2x Gacha Tokens, EXP.
That's...pretty small compared to my other quest.
I heard Lilith give off a sigh.
That's because it's literally a tutorial quest.
Ah, right, that explains it then.
Still, not gonna say no to free shit.
I wasn't sure how long I was walking around for, but it probably wasn't too long, even if it felt like hours had passed from the time I entered the city. The atmosphere this city gave off put me on edge; every alleyway I passed could have held a potential threat, each shattered window a place I could've been followed from.
It made my hair stand on end...
The worst part of it all was the cold. While the buildings served as decent windbreakers, their protection wouldn't help much if I was exposed for much longer, and I'm pretty sure the only reason I don't have frostbite on my stab wound was from a mixture of both [Cold Resistance] leveling up several times and me staunching the wound.
Shrugging off my unease, I began to look around for a potential building that I could hunker down in. It took me a few more streets before I found a place that seemed vaguely promising. For one, some of its windows seemed sort of intact, and it also gave a decent vantage point of the intersection it occupied.
All in all, it was a good enough choice I suppose.
The building itself was pretty dull and uninteresting, just a large gray brick that was crumbling and covered in pale and worn Russian text. The door had been knocked off its hinges and the staircase seemed to be decrepit and hollow without any rigid supports. With a careless shrug, I hastily made my way inside while relishing the slight heatwave that came with the building being mostly intact.
Keeping my senses peeled as I trekked up the stairs, I stopped my stride as the stairwell led into a dark hallway. Even in the faint light, I could see that this place was an absolute mess. There was debris scattered everywhere, while the walls were peeling back and the floors were made of rotting wood. The only reason this place hadn't fallen apart yet was because of the extreme cold preserving the building. There were doorways that led into other rooms, but seeing as most of those looked empty I ignored them and kept moving forward.
Multiple floors came and went as I ascended higher and higher into the building, checking each room to see if I could use it. It wasn't long before I found a room that finally seemed promising. Its door was actually still attached and the inside was less messy than most of the others I passed by.
The real clincher though was that it had actual furniture.
Sure, said furniture was pretty decayed and almost worthless, but it was still something.
The room was small, and I realized that I was probably in a long-abandoned apartment complex. There was a large fallen-over cabinet, a ragged sofa, and a collapsed table in the room, along with a window that was in surprisingly good condition.
To the side of the entrance hall, there seemed to be a bathroom, and to the right of me was what looked like a kitchenette judging by the cupboards and sink.
All in all, this was the best room yet.
Closing the shabby door behind me, I let out a sigh of relief at finally finding a suitable shelter to spend the night in. I furrowed my brow silently. How long are the days on Ganymede anyway?
Do you want to claim this location as your: [Base]?
Y/N?
Do I really want this place as my base? Yeah, yeah, I do…for now at least.
Mentally pressing 'Y,' I read the new notifications with barely contained curiosity.
You have claimed a base!
HP, SP, and MP regen rates are doubled while in your base!
You take 10% less damage inside your base!
"Huh, pretty useful," I muttered. "Anything else special about bases that I should know about?"
For now? Nope.
[Quest Complete!]
A Rough Start.
Seems like you've gotten pretty unlucky with your start. Find shelter and claim a base.
Objective: Claim a base. [COMPLETE]
Rewards: Higher chance of survival, 2x Gacha Tokens, EXP.
You Have Leveled Up!
You have gained: 2x Gacha Tokens
"And then there's that." I smiled.
Free stuff...
In a flash of green a small, token-like object materialized.
"So Lilith, what exactly do I do with this Gacha Token?"
Crush it.
Doing just as Lilith said, I crushed the object in my hand, turning it into a fine powder that dissipated into the ether.
[Copy Of Factorio] (Uncommon)
Ah yes, crack in video game form. Have fun wasting 800+ hours of your life on this.
…
What.
The.
Fuck?!
"Are you shitting me right now?" I yelled out as I reread the notification on my heads-up display if only to make sure that, yes, I wasn't losing my mind, and that yes I just got this item.
I got a copy of Factorio. Motherfucking Factorio.
What the fuck am I supposed to do with this? I can't even fucking play it! What sort of system am I supposed to play this on, the damn broken monitor in the corner of the room!?
I inhaled the wintery air and exhaled it calmly. "Happy thoughts, John. Happy thoughts…" I whispered to myself and took in another calming breath.
"Okay… Token number one is a bust…come on, token number two!"
[Dirty Mattress] (Common)
A well-used and dirty mattress, many unspeakable things have happened upon it.
I took in multiple deep breaths. Calm thoughts. Breathe in and exhale John. Everything's fine.
"Scuffed as fuck Gacha…" I grumbled. "Okay, at least this is more useful than a copy of a game I can't even play."
In a haze of green motes, the mattress appeared, and…
"Huh...it doesn't actually look that bad," I said aloud, slightly surprised. "Weird."
Besides a few obvious stains and some slight discoloration that made it look saturated, it seems…fine? Still wouldn't sleep on it without a bunch of covers and sheets wrapped around the thing though.
With a shrug, I moved the old and dirty mattress to the corner of the room.
"Well that was…interesting," I said as I walked to the window that led onto the balcony. The view from up here was quite nice when one actually took the time to appreciate it. This particular apartment was on the highest floor of the building and it only took me about twenty flights of stairs to get up here. While this building isn't exactly a five-star hotel, it certainly hosted a good view. The surrounding area was dominated by crumbling buildings painted with washed-out bands of colors and topped with white snow, with the gargantuan concrete spires in the distance looming over the city.
It certainly painted a rather bleak picture, even if the sight wasn't worthy of a tropical vacation. Well, besides that, now that I had shelter, I needed to find a way to get food and water.
Water was easy: snow. There was snow literally everywhere. I just have to find a way to melt it.
Food was more...complicated.
The only way I could get some would be if I got lucky and found some non-perishables lying around somewhere. And with the city being this size, I could probably find at least some. But then again, I'm pretty sure the Fallen take absolutely everything that isn't nailed to the ground. Food probably isn't an exception to that rule either.
I shook my head. There wasn't any use for me to think about this now. Besides me being a bit hungry, I don't really need food currently.
I still had the Rules Of Three to consider as well: three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, and three weeks without food. I should be able to go on for a bit without the essentials.
Anyway, I have other things to take care of currently.
Making my way to the sofa, I grimaced to myself when I saw how worn out it was. With a slight hint of hesitation, I sat down and disturbed the thick layer of dust on it, kicking plumes of the long-undisturbed particles all over the small space.
"Fucking hell..." I mumbled under my breath.
'Stats.'
John Eisen
Title — N/A
Level — 3
Race — Human, Guardian (1)
Class — 03/100 [Soldier]
Transcendence Tier — Mortal
HP — [1,600/1,600] (Regen: 160 Per Minute)
SP — [3,200/3,200] (Regen: 320 Per Minute)
MP — [2,230/2,230] (Regen: 150 Per Minute)
STR — 16
END — 16
DEX — 24
INT — 16
WIS — 16
CHA — 14
LCK — 5
Unallocated Points: 0
Well, that's good. My stats seem pretty good so far—especially my DEX stat.
I looked down at my hands as I clenched and unclenched them repeatedly. I had ignored this for a while, but right now with my destination reached, it occupied the forefront of my mind.
I felt my strength.
There was no adjustment period, nothing to really denote it in my mind. It was as if it had always been there, my body seemingly instantly adapting to the sudden power boost.
It was an intoxicating feeling, one that I had ignored until now.
I had felt the stats I obtained when I became a Guardian during my fight with the dregs. My agility and reflexes were definitely better than what I used to have. I was always good at compartmentalizing and controlling my thoughts and feelings—I learned it more out of necessity than any real desire to learn how to control my mind. So now that I had actual measurable progression for myself, I was pumped! What was there to not love? Despite the situation, I couldn't help but grin.
Lilith's words in the Void came back to me with a rush, filling my mind and finally making me accept that I was here.
I had a tool that would allow me true freedom. I could visit worlds I thought were fictional and go beyond that. I had something that would let me grow strong enough to not only survive the rigors of the multiverse but thrive in them.
And it was just...handed to me.
I'm not dumb enough to think that there's not going to be a catch to obtaining all this power. But for right now? Right now, everything was great.
"I could get used to this…" I smiled. "...I could really get used to this."
Mentally, I navigated to another part of my Stats.
Resistances
08/100 [Cold Resistance] - Indicates your resistance to lower temperatures. Higher levels will decrease the effects cold weather has on you.
57/100 [Alcohol Resistance] - Indicates your resistance to alcohol and its effects. Higher levels will raise your alcohol tolerance and reduce the symptoms of the drink.
I blinked.
"Uh...that's new..."
Looks like something else besides my skills got carried over from before I died…
How the fuck is that at Level 57 already?
You're nineteen, what the hell?!
That's not even legal! How the...I need to dive into your memories more since I clearly missed something major...
I winced at the number on my UI.
57. Level 57.
"I...I didn't think it was that bad..." I muttered.
Holy shit, John. You were practically drinking yourself to death for two whole years…how did you even get that much alcohol?
I grimaced as my mood took a bit of a dive and memories came to me unbidden.
"If you could see my memories then you knew I was in a...really bad place after my parents died," I murmured softly. "I didn't know it was that bad..."
John…
Lilith's voice was softer than before.
You've probably shaved off more than a decade off your natural lifespan by doing that.
I took in a sharp intake of air at hearing that and felt my vocal cords scratch against my throat.
But, good news! Gamer's Body basically makes you biologically immortal on top of healing and keeping your body in peak condition! Oh, and there's also the fact that you sort of have a new body now as well.
I let out a breath of relief at Lilith's statement. "Well, that's pretty nice to hear. Don't worry Lilith, I've been sober for over a year now and I've been doing well. I'm long past that now, so you don't have to act like you're treading over eggshells when talking to me, okay?"
Yeah...heh. Talk about a tragic backstory.
I laughed slightly. "At least I'm not on a quest for vengeance for my dead parents or something unnecessarily edgy like that."
I made peace with the fact my parents died a while ago. While it's still a recent scar, the old adage about time healing all wounds proved correct in my case, just like me consuming copious consumption of Alcohol did apparently.
I'm still confused on how you even got that much to begin with…
Short answer? Smuggled it from my uncle. Long answer? A combination of that and buying cheaply and in bulk. Luckily for me, the place I bought from never asked for my ID and after I became a regular they probably didn't think I was underage either.
Seriously though… you could down a whole bottle of vodka at nineteen and barely feel anything?
"And in my eyes, that is an accomplishment." I chuckled and reclined back on the ancient sofa. "God, how did this go from me checking my resistances to talking about my life?"
I find talking about this stuff helps somewhat.
"Oh thank you, mysterious voice inside my head, for without you being my therapist, I surely would've hung myself from my ceiling fan and cosplayed as a cheap Halloween decoration for a while." I deadpanned.
Maybe not cheap, but probably a budget Halloween decoration.
"Fuck you, Lilith."
At least buy me dinner first.
"Hope you're happy with McDonald's because that's all I'm gonna get you if I'm paying," I replied with equal dryness.
A couple of Big Macs and a McFlurry sounds great! Oh, and some of that fresh soda they always seem to have in stock.
"Fuck, now I'm even hungrier. Thanks a lot, Lilith."
I aim to please!
I couldn't help it. I cracked up. And judging by the sound of it, so was Lilith.
"Huh, Lilith, you know, you aren't so bad."
And neither are you John, neither are you…
+8 Affection with Lilith [08/100]
+8 Obedience with Lilith [08/100]
I raised an eyebrow. "Only eight points Lilith? I'm flattered you think so highly of me."
Careful… It can go back down to zero too~
I held my hands up in a placating manner.
"Easy there, Lilith. Keep talking like that and I'm gonna think you're some sort of tsundere." I spoke in an equally playful tone.
Ugh, you're insufferable.
"Love you too!"
I stood up from my seat and cracked my neck, getting a few satisfying pops for my minor stretches.
"While I hate to cut our banter short, I still have to, oh I dunno, survive." With that said, I exited my base and began to climb up to the roof.
Being on the top floor had its perks. One of the more useful ones being that I could see a good chunk of the frankly massive city I now found myself in. Overall, I was still only a few blocks or so from the outskirts of this place. I haven't really explored the area much other than looking for a suitable living space.
That changes now.
I have a few ideas, just in case the Fallen decided to pay me a visit. Stuff like a snow layer near each floor's entrance would tell me if I had some...unexpected guests if the snow got disturbed, and piles of smaller, looser objects could make for a decent makeshift alarm system too.
But right now, I needed to scout the local area and mark any points of interest.
"Flare said Ganymede was a shipbuilding world, so the chances are high that there should be some sort of spaceport or shipyard I could jack a ride from..."
With that in mind, I began to make some edits to my mental list.
1) Find Shelter, Food, And Water
I already found a shelter, so all I need now is some food and water.
2) Scout out nearby buildings and see if I can find something that could help me get off Ganymede; if not, then something to help me survive longer.
This goal was going to be easier said than done. This city was large and I was...hesitant to go deeper into it since something tells me that's where most of the trouble probably is.
3) Fortify the base and make it more habitable for me.
In the short term, this is easy enough. I could craft a few traps and jury-rig some makeshift alarms for the first set of defenses. I still remember how to make snares from my time hunting with dad, so those should come in handy.
Making it more habitable would be fun. I found some pieces of furniture I could bring into my base to make it a bit of a nicer place to live in.
I sighed. "A heater would be amazing though…"
4) Find a gun from Destiny.
Probably one of the most important goals on this list since it would make everything else a lot easier and would allow me to explore more confidently and deeper into this city to boot. Honestly, I could probably fulfill this goal much more quickly if I just did all the other tasks. I was bound to find a good gun at some point, so there wasn't a particular need to scavenge for one unless I happened to be really unlucky.
I paused mid-stride. Say, Lilith, how far into the future in Destiny set in? I know it's at least several centuries from the modern-day, but I don't know how far exactly.
Around the ballpark of seven-hundred years.
I grimaced. Okay, As much as I personally love the AK-47 and think it's a good all-around weapon, I'm probably gonna have to upgrade soon. I'm lugging around a weapon that's basically eight-hundred years out of date.
I'm going to need an upgrade—no ifs, ands, or buts about it, especially if I want to survive out here long enough to actually get a spaceship and leave.
5) Using and grinding up my stats, skills, and resistances and gaining more power with the system all-around
I'm in a setting where there are superhuman army killers that can come back from the dead on a whim, alien space gods that want to enthrall me or eat my soul or something, and militaristic rhino imperialists that want to conquer all they see, and set in a place where the entire solar system is home to a shit ton of hostile scavenger aliens.
I'm going to need more power, and this system seems like a very good thing to have, especially now that I'm Ghostless. For all intents and purposes, I suppose I could be considered Lightless too.
Finishing that final bit of the list, I finally exited outside and onto the roof of the apartment complex. The snow here is slightly higher than the snow on the superhighway, going up above my knees and engulfing my legs in the fluffy white grains.
I better get comfy, since I'm gonna be up here for a while…
[x]
=Lilith=
"Finally!" Lilith yelled out as she reclined back on the grassy hill she found herself on.
"Freedom!" She yelled in a roar of victory.
John's soulscape was...pleasant, she thought.
Mostly flat grassland with a few hills and the rare occasional oak tree here or there.
The metaphysical wind blew through her hair and moved the sea of grass in mesmerizing patterns. She had practically broken down in tears when she took shelter inside his soul. Her prison in the Void, kept shackled and chained by ancient runic matrices and reality anchors, along with millions upon millions of siphons, sucking away at her vitality over the course of millennia, slowly draining her nigh-limitless power.
Infinite darkness gets boring after a few minutes and downright maddening after several hours...with how long she was in there? With no sensory stimulation of any kind, just darkness? It was no surprise she had the reaction she did to his soulscape, especially after having been chained...enslaved...turned into a living battery, and locked away for so, so long. It was as if a weight had been lifted off her whole body. She had felt better than she had in eons!
Then there were the more mundane aspects she had come to miss. The prickly feeling of grass on her skin, the wind, the smell, the color! She hadn't broken down in tears...no. She had just purely bawled her eyes out.
Then there was her magnum opus: John's System.
It sat at the exact core of his soulscape, buried deep inside the very essence of him.
She had to sacrifice whatever power she had remaining, and her corporeal form too, just to create the System. The thought of that caused her mood to sour. The system she crafted was nowhere near as stable as it could be.
Too much power gained in a short timeframe? Reality collapse event.
Too much trauma to the system? Massive reality failures.
Too little maintenance? The whole thing will eventually unravel and destroy both her and John in the process.
For all intents and purposes, it was...buggy.
Before John had leveled up, she couldn't do much besides trying to hold the thing together with whatever scraps of power she had left.
Then he leveled up.
Lilith couldn't help but shiver in ecstasy at the memory. Going from an atrophied young woman to a person who could level cities in the span of half a second would do that to you.
And that was only a drop in the dry ocean bed that was once her full and true power.
For him, a single level wouldn't even be noticeable, but for her? Even one level from him would grant her a frightening amount of power that while seeming negligible to him, was everything to her. If she had a corporeal body, she could probably destroy the entire state of Connecticut once John got his fourth level.
"Another drop..." Lilith sighed contentedly as a warm breeze washed itself over her prone form.
She got lucky with him. He died at the right place at the right time and was just close enough for her power to pull him to her prison. And then there was the fact that his compatibility with her was amazingly high.
If anything, their recent conversation cemented that fact, she just found it so easy to talk to him. They were the most compatible for each other personality-wise compared to the hundreds of others who had died in that crash.
And that was what attracted her to him. It was really the only reason...
He was a man who got dealt a bad hand by life, but one amongst millions of others who had similar if not worse experiences in life than he had. A man with a past, but one he moved on from. Most importantly of all, he didn't let it define who he was as a person.
With an aggravated sigh, Lilith pushed off the grass and focused on the core of his soul.
"Somethings fucking acting up again..." she growled out with no small amount of irritation. "This damn system!" She dug into its reality encoding, using her power to locate and fix the major system bug and preventing yet another temporal cascade destabilization event.
She sighed and wiped some sweat off her brow. The fact of the matter was that she was nowhere near strong enough to build a system such as this. In order to survive, she had to cut corners, and look where that got her. The System would obviously become more nuanced as she became stronger, but she would need John to be at least Level 300 before every kink, bug, and glitch in it was fully ironed out.
"Such a headache…" This was probably the reason most beings and gods didn't create these sorts of things. Far too much work with far too high of a chance that something could go wrong. That included both with the recipient and the System itself.
But she didn't have a choice. It was either this or imprisonment for the rest of eternity, and her time was running out...this was her final plan. If this failed...
She shook her head.
No...no, I can't think like that...I won't go back. It is either this or I die. At least death is a preferable alternative compared to HIM.
As she fixed a few thousand minor errors within the System, she gave a sad smile.
She suspected John knew something was up with her System. John was many things, but dumb was one of the things he wasn't. While she could look through his memories, Lilith deigned to give him at least a little bit of privacy.
But she couldn't exactly tell him everything. At least not yet. She couldn't tell him what she roped him into. The eternal rivalry and animosity between her and HIM.
If HE realized she had escaped HIS little prison then the entire multiverse would be turned upside down as HE looked for her.
She couldn't tell him everything right now. Eventually, though, she would come clean and tell him exactly what she roped him into.
Eventually...
A/N: Some of you have probably noticed a lot for differences between this and my first attempt, well there was a reason for that, DxD is a setting I don't know too much about compared to Destiny, and you would have probably noticed how there wasn't a 17 fucking K Info dump of a first chapter here :P
Anyways, I CANNOT Give enough credit to Dreadon for his help on this. His polishing and edits have helped to really shape this chapter from good to amazing. If you want to check out his fic (Which he is also currently rewriting) Look up Assimilation Effect, its pretty good. (Love you Drae no homo)
Some people might be asking "Are you gonna keep to your original Plot?" And the answer is yes, yes I am because making a cohesive plot is a pain in the fucking ass. Yes Empire building will still be a major part of this, Yes there WILL BE SMUT since I'm apparently kinda good at writing it... your just gonna have to wait till John gets off Ganymede. I'm also keeping my original world list so there's that too. Will John become a fallen angel? Hard to say but so far I'm leaning towards a maybe I just don't know yet.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Chapter 2 hopefully shouldn't take as long to upload so there's that to look forward too.
Anyways I'm gonna go off and play some modded Minecraft for a while now and systematically mass genocide some villagers.