Chapter 2: The Second Predicament - The Singularity

That same blaring sound washed over my mind. The more I tried to focus on it, the more it faded. Everything that has transpired up until now is becoming a blur. It's almost unreal to think about where I used to be and where I am now.

In this new realm, it felt akin to navigating a lucid dream. I had been transported to an entirely different world, and my senses were overwhelmed by the foreign environment. Desperate to absorb my surroundings, I took a moment to explore. The sky had an odd shade of green, reminiscent of Namek, though the trees here didn't mirror the vibrant blue of that fictional place. It was clear; I wasn't on Namek.

I could've looked around for ages but there wasn't anything normal. It was all beyond my wildest imagination. Draconic beasts with disproportionate bodies, large gnarly arms with even larger wings to match while their bodies are presumably small. "Small People" with extremely elongated legs as if they were walking on stilts, though their torso and arms remained to be short in comparison.

Despite the surreal landscape, I strolled through a flourishing area filled with vibrant colors and shops reminiscent of springtime in Japan. Cherry blossom-like petals, shaped more like maple leaves, floated through the air, creating a scene that both fascinated and puzzled me.

However, amidst the fantastical abnormalities of this world, my attire marked me as an outsider. Clad in an oversized hoodie with a graphic and yoga pants, I stood out among the locals who wore medieval attire reminiscent of late 1600s-1700s French fashion. My appearance, shaped by my half-German,and half-Japanese heritage, drew attention to this unique realm.

Race wise everyone seemed fairly diverse as far as facial features and skin tone went.

Compared to everyone else, I had stern eyes which came more from my mom. Short Ash blonde hair from my father and his bright blue eyes. Overall my hair was fairly light with predominately dark roots. I had a fairly nice jawline and subtle yet pronounced features that I would consider to make me attractive. If anything if I was forced to marry myself, I would.

I feel like that's kind of what set me apart as a shut-in.

What was important was this one crucial thing: I could understand the language being spoken here, even the signs in shops I could read. From what I remember it took me a good couple of years to learn just one language, to know what this world's language was in mere seconds was astonishing.

Because of this sudden discovery, I peered into shops and listened to people bargaining and shouting unfamiliar terms. I could understand what they said despite that fact. The unfamiliar terms and statements followed the general grammatical range consisting of nouns and adjectives so everything was falling into place rather nicely.

Even their currency seemed easy enough to interpret as it followed your generic gold, silver, bronze, and copper piece value range.

"I'll trade you this Veridian scale mail if you'll give me the finest enchantment on my Sword."

The adventurer inside the shop exclaimed calmly. He seemed to have been slightly experienced as he had that weird middle-aged man stubble on his chin.

"Oh my, Veridian scale-mail you say.. these have been short in circulation recently, barely anyone can get their hands on some even if you stayed in the peir'a tundra for a couple of days and nights. So.. I'll take you up on your offer —.." The older shop owner had a bit of a surprised yet skeptical look on his face before meeting the adventurer with a face of confirmation.

It signaled the adventurer that the bargain was a success. They both chuckled before the adventurer stepped back to let the shopkeeper do their work.

Using one hand the shopkeeper placed it on the gear and using the other he'd twirl it in the air as if he was playing the piano. A blue mist cascaded from his fingers as he moved them. With each time one of his fingers came down, it was as if a ripple in water appeared in the air. A harmonic melody accompanied the ripple bringing me slight ease.

Right at the end the last finger was dramatic and seemingly exaggerated where once it made contact, a ripple would've spread out across the sword and gear while his hand was hovering over it. It was akin to the end of a melody, it brought about a great finish to the scene which unfolded.

Suddenly, a bright light cast down on the gear where a strange inscription was cast over it.

I was truly in awe as the sword was encrusted in a gold outline or so, only following that gold encrusting would've been a light blue membrane cast over it. I've never seen anything like it. The only thing I could've compared it to would be enchantments in this one game I played.

While I had my gaze fixed to get a closer look at what was going on I'd get caught off guard. My prior focus was completely shattered as some random disturbance had occurred in the streets. A strange man had been yelling so I went to go check that out instead since it might be important.

"LET IT BE KNOWN TO ALL THAT ALL WHO DISOBEY HIS MAJESTY WILL BE PROMPTLY PUNISHED.. THE HANSMEN ARE ALWAYS WATCHING." Screamed the jester-looking dude, but he had more of a prim outfit on than you'd only see in overly exaggerated medieval TV shows.

Everyone would've started murmuring with the mention of the "Hansmen" for some reason I got the impression the Hansmen were some kind of secret organization or taboo word that everyone else knew about except for me.

I walked around to see what I could learn about the Hansmen and prompted some random guy on the street.

"Hey uh.. I've just arrived here from Eastward. who are the Hansmen..?" I whispered this to the guy who had their arms crossed with a disappointed look on their face. I used the word eastward only assuming they had the same methodology when it came to directions, north, south, east, and west.

"Youngun' you aren't from around here if you genuinely don't know of the Hansmen Elite." Exclaimed the disappointed dude.

"Ah, well do you mind explaining who they are.. Are they like an organization I should know about.." I said carefully as I was trying to be careful with my word choice given I didn't know if my vocabulary or vernacular was something they'd be familiar with

"They're more like people who police the nation while acting as a military branch, they operate in the shadows and punish those who go against the province and moral conduct codes our capital has in place. They wield powers in a league of their own as one of them is equal to an army needed to win a war." The man would've shivered from that same statement as seemingly, the very idea of the Hansmen interacting or joining a dispute would've meant an absolute genocide between all parties involved. Or so I assumed.

"Ah.. has there been anybody who's met them publically?.. would it be possible for someone to just find them randomly," I asked this as I kinda wanted to learn more about them personally and up close, along with the fact I could've used this to figure out what kind of abilities I was able to use upon arriving in this world.

Actually, in the time I've been here, I haven't taken the time to figure out what kind of abilities I have or how I activate them.

"Hmph! Join the Hansmen? You'd need to make your standing as a high-ranking adventurer, an almost spotless record with little to no faults in your questlogs.. The minimum being an SS rank adventure, and automatically being eligible once you've become SSR.." The man said these different words and I realized they rank adventurers like items in a gacha game..—

"I see.. well I've gotta become an adventurer then, where do I sign up?" I brazenly asked

"Ah, well you can do it over at the guild, just walk down the road, take a right, go down the stairs near the sparring area, and right next to it will be the Yventia Adventurers guild."

"alrighty then, thanks..—"

Somehow I got lost.

Lost in the unfamiliar city, I eventually found the Yventia Adventurers Guild. while trying to find it, however, I delved deeper into the lore of the Hansmen elite, the kingdom's political structure, and the unique powers within the world—Chordatta and magecraft—both of which governed this world.

Within this world, they use magic but something else also exists as a counterpart to magic, almost like the very thing you'd use 'against' magic. It's something called Chordatta, a strange force where you utilize the hymns of the cosmos. I figured it was the same thing that one shopkeeper did earlier based on what I've heard thus far.

I learned only the bare minimum when it comes to chordatta since most information about it is only known by those who actively practice it. I was told the Harmonic Council are the individuals who primarily take priority in all chordatta-based matters. They're an exclusive organization comprised of exceptionally talented individuals known as Conductors and Symphonists (Chordatta users are typically called this).

They remain to be highly prestigious and rarely take you on without either a mock exam or a recommendation letter. In my case, I was told I'd be a natural prodigy at the things I attempt to learn from that deity person. But.. I can see here where some problems might lie.

One. I have no idea where to start other than going to the adventurers guild.

Two. I'm still pretty much in the dark on how adventuring goes here or if it's even similar to the "adventurers" I've become so fond of in fictional stories and light novels.

But finally, after a little pondering, I walked into the Yventia adventurers guild. Also, for insight— the kingdom or country I wound up in is known as the Astaren Province, right now I'm in the capital known as Yventia.

The kingdom operates as a Monarchy with a rather corrupt king. Basically like a royal guard, the Hansmen operate right under them but with complete and utter free reign over their actions. Essentially exempt from normal rules in place as a sign of their power.

And as far as power goes as a country, we're in a three-way deadlock with 2 other countries. While one specifically stands at the very top of them all yet they stay secluded to themselves and very rarely allow foreigners within their borders. On top of that, the demon country which is south near the equator, remains dormant until Ragnarok which no one knows when will happen, only when a grand Magi from a far-off land arrives with their mystical knowledge and prowess to save the entire world.

The only thing is, no one knows what to expect out of that "grand magi" so eventually people have forgotten Ragnarok could occur on any day, month, or year.

I can only hope I'm not that grand magi since I'm literally about to register as an F-rank adventurer with no combat skills or history in doing so.

"Hi, there! Welcome to the Yventia Adventurers guild! we're always happy to welcome new members experienced or not. If you'll kindly fill out this form so we can get your paperwork sorted out and your adventurer's license issued." Exclaimed by the busty, super sexy receptionist behind the counter as I walked in. She was exceptionally pretty, to the point I almost started drooling.

It was lacy and the material used allowed for their cleavage to be seen with maximum efficiency, every curve on their body was seemingly amplified with the outfit. The skirts were short, all while they wore a corset so everything curved perfectly.

They wore embroidered stockings which allowed their thighs to have their highlight as well the tightness on the stocking allowed for a slight pinch of thigh to poke over but not a lot.

Moving on.

Once I filled out the paperwork the receptionist gave me a bit of an odd look. I thought she figured out I was just leering at her breast the entire time I filled it out as I still had a bit of a creepy smile the entire time.

"Well, I guess it's good to have unique characters in the guild.." managed the receptionist. She seemingly looked a bit off and kind of confused looking at my paperwork, clearly, it wasn't the usual as I didn't know a lot of the terms on the sheet in the first place. I more or less just guessed.

She picked up my paper after I finished and reviewed everything.

"Alrighty, with that out of the way we're going to test your aptitude for Chordatta. Since you checked off no for experience with chords and yes on your willingness to take classes or courses on learning it to adventure. You understand that you'll need to be tested on your aptitude. This is because if you don't meet certain requirements, your entire learning process will be three to four times longer than people who've either met or exceeded the mark required."

She said this calmly as she must've experienced a few others who acted arrogantly about their aptitude thinking they could breeze through it but failed to meet the expectations. I can understand their reasoning behind this if I'm being honest, no point in trying to do something knowing you'd do terribly and would never succeed in the process.

"I also noticed you checked no on the box for your aptitude or ability to use magic, along with checking yes on your willingness to test if you can use it." She said almost intrigued as if it was something strange to do.

"Yeah, I wanna make sure I can do at least one," I noted rather confidently.

"Well you see, people are typically born as mages and show traits around age one. So unless you've shown potential in being a mage during infancy up until now, you're typically not likely to have the ability to use magecraft. And so you know, you don't 'need' Chordatta or magecraft, learning the ways of the sword, bow, other weapons, sage art or technique is still possible you know—"

"Oh sure but uh.. well lady right now is the time to say if there was anyone in the past who used magecraft despite not showing signs..—" Pipishly noted me as I was used to watching anime or reading manga where the main character is getting their rundown and the moment it's revealed that at least one person did it in the past 1,000 or so years they end up doing it.

"Well, there have been a few but it's more likely to happen to every 1 out of 100,000 people who admit it. And it's a bit more depressing since we'll only get 1,000 people to apply every year, some can already use magic or Chordatta upon joining. You're one of the very few to try without initially knowing in this case." She said this rather calmly despite the saddening odds for everyone who's probably gonna try this testing method in the future.

"Ah—.. Well, let's do it anyway."

"—..Alright, we'll just proceed with the test."

It was only after she looked back at my admission paper did she check for my name.

"Are you ready Sumire?.." uttered the receptionist. I nodded in response

But alas, immediately afterward I was pricked on the finger, and a tiny dab of blood began to form as the receptionist took that and placed it on a crystal ball she placed in from of us. She'd smear the blood in a circle on the ball only to bring my finger which was still bleeding towards the center of the circle. It was then a drop of blood appeared in the center now causing the orb to glow brightly. The light from the orb would've appeared to be a bright green only for it to shift into a bright white light.

"Interesting— it says you're going to be highly adept in using Chordatta. We can contact the Harmonic Council immediately."

"What about the magecraft test?..—" piqued by me.

"Wait what do you mean?.. " urked the receptionist.

"Hm..—?" I looked at her with relative suspicion as I knew she was hiding something.

she then would've brought a wooden board with a circular inscription created on it in white chalk. Typically looking like a transmutation circle or something wizards use before executing some sort of spell. After the receptionist brought it out, she'd bring my finger which wasn't really bleeding anymore onto the center of the circle and pressed it firmly onto the circle.

the inscription on the circle glowed a bit before she tapped my shoulder.

"Alright, imagine the very essence of magic to you. No matter how minuscule, when the word magic pops up what do you imagine? And when you imagine magical abilities, creating them of your discretion, what pops up?"

I took a long hard moment to decide what that meant to me as the toxic amount of content I've gorged on in the last few years of my life has had magic or at least some reference to it. Wizards, are people who use magic based on draconic abilities which are supposed to help them slay dragons. A witch who completely put an entire island of relatives into despair at their annual family meeting just because people either did or didn't believe she existed. full counter. Magical weapons. Discord arguments on dragon ball ki being magic.

And then, finally, for that last question.

Shockingly a large light filled the room and everyone was genuinely surprised by the outcome. A black piece of paper with chrome inscriptions on it, however, no one other than me could read what was on it mainly being it was in Japanese as opposed to this world's language. Everyone was in awe for many reasons and I simply just grabbed the paper to read what it said.

"Hi again, I see you're trying to use magic in this world, and well good luck on that! I should really just not let you but because of the benevolence I hold being such a supreme and awe-inspiring deity I'll allow it. Along with that, the ability based on your own situation and being is called 「Divergent」. Know that it's not specifically and only based on you, but it's made to act off of you and to mutate, and grow stronger. And possibly surpass me! or y'know, cause your depravity and downfall."

below the message would've been a dotted list

• "The one who has become the wielder of Divergence no longer acts within common comprehension or reason as you are entirely separate from everyone and their entirety. No longer bound or strapped down by concepts everyone else needlessly abides by as you're completely the ruler of your own world."

• "Possibilities which never ever occur become open to you, as you're completely outside the wheel, the box which confines all of creation and its children. Not even the entities who've transcended beyond its confines are truly free, except for you. You exist solely alone and by yourself no longer within the infinite spectrum which 'everything' is defined on and defined to be on."

• "You alone can adjoin and create things, ideas, and solutions that would ultimately fail anyone else. No longer are you simply a slave to the causality of existence. Specific dualities no matter how important they are, you are now independent of."

• "Divergent objectifies all that is considered to be an absolute outcome, anything inevitable, or unavoidable. Whatever considers or holds those stances becomes subjective and irrelevant. Regardless of the complexity, or how essential it may be.

• "Abilities can be created, applied, and utilized via Divergent. Simply trying to erase divergent will prove to be futile as circumvention is going to apply to the event, all but refuting any form of erasure leaving divergent forever with the user regardless of their own will and discretion. No Entity, force, natural law, phenomena, etc can remove divergent. Simply trying to think of ways to remove it would be futile as it'd only add to the list of things which can't remove it."

It'd come off as a bit shocking as I'd be left speechless, especially because of the PS message written on the very bottom. However, I simply folded it up for later. The receptionist was just a bit more in awe as there was little to no chance of being born adept at Chordatta and the ability to use magic. It was simply unheard of no matter where you searched. A singularity, someone truly special had just appeared.

P.S.

• "Finally, as one who wields divergent. Your past, future, and present remain incinerated for the rest of your days. No longer to exist in the true sense and simultaneously there will never be a moment where you're truly non-existent. But, you are indeed dead Sumire. One who is divergent can never exist through normal means as everyone else does, this is merely the effect of being recluse from all that is around them."