Hello, NewUser064. The system scanned Rio's device on her wrist and allowed her into the restaurant. It wasn't the same one she had come a few days ago. Rather it was on a tiny complex deep in street five. The receptionist noticed her. 

"Hello. How can I help you?" said the receptionist. 
"Umm, there's a task here that I've to do," said Rio showing her wrist to him to read. 
"Newly appointed?" 
"Yes," said Rio hesitatingly. She didn't have any proof that she has been doing these things for a couple of years, would anyone believe without that? 
"The power source is in the backyard. Here's the way." the receptionist showed her the way from where he stood. Remembering the directions, she headed towards the backyard. 

The first work after getting the device was at a restaurant. The device showed her the direction with maximum time she can spend doing that. There were many more steps to complete her first work. She would have to check the speed of the machine that was working before fixing, then do whatever was needed and then record the new speed after fixing. 

She had only half an hour doing that. Looking at that, she couldn't understand why one would need such a long time. Even if one doesn't have that spray, one shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to clean that. 'It's only dust. Not your typical glue' wondered aloud. 

She used only her trusty screwdriver to get rid of stubborn dust. It normally takes a brush to remove those, but it looked like someone sprayed water on it. It was stuck so hard with the surface. 

Her mind was on her task only. But how much would they pay me for this? A question struck her mind. She brought her wrist nearer to have a look at it. 85 COH. They wanna pay that much just because they can't clean it themselves. Will they get their hands bloodied the way she saw in her dreams? 

After finishing with the locking mechanism of the power backup, she opened the door to have a look at that. She looked around to make sure it was disconnected. She went ahead and moved her hands as fast as she could. 

After a while, the receptionist appeared from behind. He intently saw her working. 

"All done?" asked the receptionist. 
"Just a minute. Could you please turn it back on? I need to check the speed." said Rio hurriedly closing the compartment and dusting away her hands. Glittery dust flew in the air as she dusted her tools. 

"You don't look like a newbie." said the receptionist. 
"Yes. Cause I've been doing the same thing for the last three years," said Rio, noting the readings and confirming in her task sheet. 
"Then your device showed…." 
"It showed because I lost my card this morning," said Rio looking at the apologetic face of the receptionist. "To be honest, I accidentally burnt it." 
"Have you been working with the card all these years?" 
"Yes. Do we get anything else during our internship?" said Rio. She doubted there was anything else other than the work card. 
"No, I mean didn't you get the device on your…." his inquiries went off as Rio interrupted, "No. I don't know why I didn't get it after I turned eighteen. But that doesn't matter now." she prepared to leave the location. "I've got a lot to do." 

She reached the reception desk to scan her device that confirmed her work and it blinked as it received her first 85 coins of health. Was her first day of work looked like this? It was cheerful but she still has to do a lot. At least to have enough to give to her mother, if she didn't want her to know anything about this mishap. 

The first day had places that were quite high profile. Hospitals, cafes, shopping centers, and even banks. Isn't the chairman worried about this? So many places are lacking work speed and this person doesn't seem to worry about anything. Of course, Mr. Maning is worried about his family drama instead of this. 

Not every place had such an understanding of receptionist or even an employee. Many were lost on the TV screen with the repetitive headlines of Mrs. Maning. They were too busy to care about 'who the new silver dust cleaning girl' or even 'isn't it the girl who is on the screen'. They looked at Kner sympathetically which burned Rio's heart. 

Some even had time to question her new identity. Funny thing was that no one asked her name. Was she lucky today? Or they didn't mind? Who cares when you have to have money to handover to your mother else she would swoon and upon waking her would run off to the scary swirl? 

Another thing that struck her mind was what if her dreams have become a reality? What if Kner had left her in the figurative swirl in the city and runoff, laughing? What if her mother would push her off the ground? What if she gets her hand bloodied just when she touches the glittered dust? Her screwdriver fell right on her foot, making her alert. She was on the top of the tower that controlled traffic. It worked on its own. The view of the city looked a step away from being perfect. What was the mess, she couldn't tell it right away. But it looked as if a storm had just passed by, destroying everything in its way. 

Her palm-reader on her wrist vibrated, showing her a notification. Clicking on it her jaw dropped. 

'The future chairman' s ex-girlfriend speaks the evil language of Zolzeim. ' 
Rio didn't feel like its anything about her. She was sure it must be someone else. Reading more about that, her mind whirled seeing it to be the claim made by Mrs. Maning. Does she know anything else other than this? Her eyes didn't believe as she read further that it was indeed written about her. 
'Rionora Tarnilier, the intern who looks innocent but is not.' She sighed reading the sentence. That doesn't explain anything. 
'The one who should focus on her work wandered around with my son. Despite my objections, she never listened to us. Everyone is aware of the cheap tricks of the workers but sadly my son didn't know any of it. 
Forgetting her limits, she coaxed him to give her higher posts before she completed her projects. Instead, my son had to give her something else. He even had to pay her from our treasury just because she didn't get what she wanted. The workers, don't even know that's how it doesn't work. But sadly they stay where they are, don't even know the basic knowledge of the work thingy works. 
When he decided to give her a nice post in our company, he asked something from her in return. But she dared not to obey him and along with it, she even threatened him the evil language of Zolzeim. I fear she has secret trades with them and conspires against our country. 
I want immediate the police to arrest her for her crimes. It's not my word, it's my son's demand. If the city wants its next chairman to be healthy, do him justice. Get rid of the girl. 
Our next chairman would be the next Gliustav Maning if everyone supports him now. He needs your help in this darkest time. 'she finished reading the article in one breath. 

Her head felt heavy going through the article. She slid on the floor of the traffic control room, trying to catch her breath. When was she warned before? The only warning she ever got was on Kysop' s birthday. And what was the evil language she is talking about? Rio doesn't know anything other than her Katokein tongue. It was him who wanted the password and he threatened most of the time, even bullied her and her mother. She couldn't remember a thing said to him, let alone words of threat. He indeed took her outside or even treated her with nice things. Wait, it was mostly nice restaurants for dinner. 'I want to get away from home for a while', that were his words when he took her along with him. So the dinner at those places cost him a million? She couldn't think of what she should do now. The news that was between a few people is out now. Everyone would get rid of her. She even ordered an arrest. Did the matter reach that extreme and she didn't even realize any of it? Had he told her to stay away one single time, she would have stopped working there. She just wanted her certificate after a few days of working. Oh, occasionally she did ask him for any stable job in a nice place. 'I can even give you the companies in my hand', indeed were his words. The scenes ran in a loop in her head, making her close her eyes. Gladly there was no one in the control room, else it would have been embarrassing to cry in public. How can he just lie like that to his mom? Doesn't he know what was going on between them? Rio even stopped asking him for work since the last week, let alone the stable job after the internship. 

This news must have gone to her mom. She would finish her for sure. Her heart twisted thinking about what she would do at home. She decided not to go home early. But where should she go if not home? The whole city must be looking for her. Will her mom hand her over to the police? Was her nightmare becoming a reality?

A bolt of crimson flashed through the forest in a heartbeat.

Kokuo extended its chakra, trying to find a route without people around. Even though they had gotten quite far from Iwagakure, there was still a possibility that a hunting squad was still trailing them. They couldn't stop just yet.

Instead of going in a straight line, they took a winding pattern, zig-zagging around the trees. Whenever they encountered a trace of civilization, they would move around and find another path.

"Trees. Trees everywhere… This land is so fertile."

No matter where they go, the forest kept spreading as far as his eyes could see.

"Is it not normal for the Land of Fire to be fertile?"

Kokuo replied half-heartedly.

"Land of Fire?"

Was that another nickname? The spirit beast did call the U-Tsang's northern mountain as 'Land of Earth'. Perhaps this Land of Fire thing was just a fancy way in the future era to call the place that he knew.

Dusk descended into night, night gave way to dawn. A new day had arrived with the sun taking its rightful throne up above the clouds.

They had managed to cover a large distance thanks to Kokuo's inexhaustible chakra. There hadn't been any sign of Iwagakure pursuers as well. It should be relatively safe after coming this far.

But… this density of trees… not even the Nanman region could compare. They hadn't gone that far south as well.

'Hmm, whatever, I'll just figure it out later.'

They finally stopped near a small creek. The red chakra cloak covering his body dissipated into thin air alongside the white steam produced by Boil Release. The overwhelming heat that ravaged his body was replaced by the gentle morning breeze, which made him feel a bit ticklish.

"...Huh?"

The comfortable sensation didn't last long as his knees involuntarily gave out. His muscles, which were completely fine mere seconds ago, suddenly ached all over. Moreover, he felt his body devoid of energy as if he hadn't eaten anything for months on end.

"Your stamina is drained from extensive use of This One's chakra. Take some rest."

Kokuo calmly explained, looking like everything was perfectly normal.

"..."

No wonder it had abruptly stopped in this random spot... 

Oh well.

Yao Huang laid on his back, controlling his breath to enter a meditative state that would hasten his recovery. The onslaught of pain and fatigue was actually a bit nostalgic.

Just like other immortals, Yao Huang had a spiritual body made entirely out of qi. He no longer had any need to rest or eat, only requiring qi to rejuvenate himself.

But now, he once again had a mortal body, along with all the shortcomings that came with it. He didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

"So this is what it feels to be 'alive'..."

While he was busy stabilizing his strength, Kokuo was growing restless within his psyche, looking left and right with sparkles in its eyes.

"Well? I did keep my promise, didn't I?"

Kokuo harrumphed, refusing to reply. However, it was clear that the white beast had eased up around his presence.

It wasn't as if their problem had been solved just yet. The spirit beast was still embedded in his soul, and the threat of him dying upon extraction didn't seem to be a lie. It should be possible if he could use mystic arts, but that would require a higher cultivation base, something that would take quite a while to achieve.

Yao Huang could only hope that Kokuo would be satisfied with this arrangement for the time being.

Stepping closer toward the kid, Kokuo lowered its head.

"Your name."

"Hmm?"

"Tell This One your name," Kokuo repeated. "Do you prefer This One to call you 'kid' all the time?"

"Ah. Right."

Yao Huang pointed at himself with a thumb.

"My name is Yao Huang."

...

His words before the name were normal, but when he reached the most important part, his pronunciation returned to his old memory's language.

Kokuo couldn't understand.

"...Pray repeat it again."

"Yao. Huang."

"..."

Kokuo was in a dilemma.

It was proud of its intelligence, capable of besting humans in all fields, let alone simple linguistic comprehension. However, it felt like its figurative tongue would get tangled up if it tried to imitate those words.

"How... to write that?"

In the end, it went for the easier route. As long as it knew the kanji, it should be possible to find the correct pronunciation.

Yao Huang proceeded to write his name on the dirt with his finger.

"..."

Ah, heck, was that even kanji?

"Kid, how do you read these characters? What do they mean?"

Yao Huang pointed at the first character.

"This is my surname, 'Yao'. "

He then moved to the second character.

"This is my given name, Huang. It means 'brilliant'. The one who had given me this name wished for me to become a strong person, strong enough to protect those dear to me."

He avoided the spirit beast's gaze at that last second.

Kokuo had been paying attention to the kid's explanation. Aside from the two words, everything was said in normal language, so it could finally see the reasoning behind the name.

"This One understands."

It proceeded to write another character with its hoof.

"Light (Guang)?"

"From now on, This One shall use this name and call you, 'Hikari'."

Yao Huang felt something weird with the way Kokuo said it, but he shook it off. Perhaps it was because of cultural shock. After all, this era's language had changed so much from his time.

"Then, please take care of This One."

"Likewise."

The tailed beast lifted its hoof, which Yao Huang grabbed in response to imitate a handshake.

Suddenly, Yao Huang jumped back to his feet.

"..."

"What is it? Iwagakure pursuers?"

Kokuo went alert at once, but Yao Huang just looked at him strangely.

"...No. I just need to answer nature's call."

"..."

Oh.

Oh…

Yao Huang felt irked by Kokuo's thousand-yard stare. He was also surprised, alright? It had been thousands of years since the last time he had to do business in a loo. He had almost forgotten how it actually feels like.

They were in the middle of a forest, so there was no need to be polite. Yao Huang dived into a nearby tall bush and started to pull his pants down.

"..."

Wait, the feeling was a bit… different...

Meanwhile, his hand instinctively grabbed at a certain place, only to find that he had failed to grasp anything.

As a last resort to keep his sanity, Yao Huang commanded his body to exhume the liquid waste right then and there, just to see where it would come out from. The experiment concluded with his behind getting wet all over due to letting it out while standing.

Owh…

"Venerable One. Are you there?"

"...This One is right here."

"Give it to me straight. Am I a eunuch?"

"...What is a eunuch?"

Yao Huang was quickly losing his composure. His hands were maniacally grabbing, scratching, even slapping that place, but what was lost wouldn't magically appear just because he did so.

"It's gone!"

"What is?"

"My little sword is gone, damn it!"

"Little..."

The white beast's eyes turned into swirls. 

"Venerable One, please tell me! Does sealing a spirit beast into one's body turn you into a eunuch? Is that the price to pay?! What kind of backward demonic technique is this!?! If I see the person responsible for this, I'll smack his head so hard his skull will come out of his ass-"

"Calm! Down!"

Kokuo manifested a tail out of Yao Huang's body, and then used it to smack his head.

Alright, now that the kid had sufficiently calmed down, they could finally have a proper conversation.

"Answer This One first. What is a eunuch?"

"Obviously, it's men whose 'thing' had been cut..."

Yao Huang replied flatly.

"..."

Kokuo regretted ever asking.

"So... you're saying that your... 'thing'... has gone? As in, you lost it?"

Yao Huang nodded furiously.

Kokuo felt his head pounding.

"But... kid, logically, it's easier to think that you didn't have one to begin with."

Yao Huang felt his heart pierced by a sharp needle.

Of course.

It is a distinct possibility.

It was also the possibility that Yao Huang had tried to reject the most. He was born male. When he created his spiritual body, he had also been a male. He had been a male for so long that he just couldn't entertain the thought that his reincarnation could be... could be...

While the kid was still standing like an idiot, Kokuo smacked him once again with his tail, throwing the kid into the creek.

As he lifted his head off the water, a reflection slowly formed on the surface.

Staring back at him was a pair of large, round eyes. The shoulder-length brown hair clung to his neck, still dripping water down his shoulders.

Ah, wrong. It wasn't 'him' anymore, but 'her', right?

After all, what looked back at Yao Huang was clearly a young girl's face...

She blinked a few times, then turned back to Kokuo. The beast just gave her a slow nod.

A bright smile blossomed on her face.

And then, she promptly fainted.

The creek produced a huge splash as she sank into the shallow water like a rock.

"..."

Kokuo manifested all of its five tails from the girl's back to push her out of the creek. And then, the beast dragged her motionless body into a thick bush. It could just wake her up by force, but she still needed to recover from her fatigue nonetheless. It couldn't understand why the girl suddenly fainted like that, but the timing was just right. Taking a few hours to sleep should be fine before resuming their journey.

"..."

"..."

"...?"

The beast's slumber was cut short when it sensed a presence rapidly coming closer.

Without a warning, the bushes parted ways. However, what popped out was different from Kokuo's expectations.

*Bark!*

It was a puppy.

Covered in white fur and decorated with a pair of drooping ears, the little creature strut closer toward the fainted kid, sniffing and nudging with its nose, tail wagging all the way.

Kokuo froze momentarily, not knowing what to do. If it was an enemy ninja or a pursuing nin-dog, it could just blow it away with Tailed Beast ball, but it would be absurd to do so against a little puppy.

"...Lesser beast, go away."

Kokuo spread out its presence, creating an illusion of its real form in order to scare the puppy away.

The little puppy noticed it immediately. Its fur stood up on its end as it stared at the shadow of a horse-like monster. It wanted to feign bravery with barks, but what came out were mere whines. It retreated one step, two steps... Finally, it couldn't take it anymore and leaped toward the fainted kid, hiding under her body.

"..."

Why did it have the opposite effect… maybe it should just manifest the tails once again and throw the puppy away. That might be faster.

While Kokuo was pondering over what to do, a loud voice suddenly boomed through the forest.

A human's voice.

"Akamaru! Where did you go!"

There was a sound of hurried footsteps, and then the bushes parted once again.

Kokuo quickly erased its presence, taking refugee once again inside the kid's soul.

As for the puppy, it let out a happy bark as if it had found its salvation.

"There you are! Why did you suddenly run away... huh?"

That day, a boy who had initially wanted to walk his dog... had ended up finding a human instead.

Deity-level cultivator Yao Huang had finally decided to re-enter the circle of reincarnation. When he was enjoying the taste of Five-Fragrance Tea, another cultivator wreaked havoc in the underworld, destroying the wheel of karma and mixing up the pool of reincarnation. Yao Huang was accidentally knocked down into the now-chaotic pool, where his soul was threatened with disintegration lest he managed to escape. Without seeing his destination, he jumped into the first path that he could find.

When he opened his eyes once again, his soul had reincarnated into the body of a little girl. At that moment, a mysterious voice echoed in her head.

"This One's name is Kokuo. This weak and small vessel... This One shall devour you whole!"

Oh, also, it seemed that she had grown five tails out of nowhere...

Forced to live in a world reigned by warriors called Ninjas, the former cultivator was joined by her reincarnated allies to find a way to return to their original world.

Meanwhile, the karma of the past slowly caught up to them, bringing up tragedies desired to be forgotten...

---

Is a Naruto Fanfic. Written just for fun. Update schedule is whenever I'm free. My lore isn't the best so don't think too much and just have fun~

---

Addendum: Since people kept on getting trapped, here's the caution list (also check tags in case author added more... twists)

-Gender Bender: For MC and some other characters
-Species Bender: For 1 character (and technically another one actually)
-Confused MC: Think of it as characters from cultivation novel transferring to Naruto world. They had no prior info beforehand so expect a lot of blind grasping over the world concept. No system or anything else to help.

"There are wounds that never show on the body that are more deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds."

-Laurell K. Hamilton

"So you're the brat that Sensei said would join us?"

He carefully drew up the little muscles that composed the entirety of his lips. Just enough to qualify as a smile, but too little to be 'actual' happiness. He directed his eyebrow to twitch and fall just a slight bit lower. In the end, it formed the expression of irritation and calm. He preferred oxymorons, in contrast with the rest of the figurative language spectrum. The beauty of controlled chaos... The irony of a deliberate mistake...

It was a kind of rotten purity all by itself.

It seemed like he took a little too long to answer, as the white haired man started to itch his neck of all things.

"Yes, I would be the brat you are speaking of," He looked at Kurogiri's relative position and came to a understanding. "I assume that you are the leader around here, then? Sensei's protege that he spoke of? It's a pleasure to meet you." He finished off his performance with a fake smile that looked true and genuine.

Despite the very small gaps that existed in his ensemble of hands, it was actually quite clear to see when his eye widened in anger.

"...Why are you calling him, Sensei? Why does your scrawny little weak ass think that you can call him Sensei?!"

He seemed to feed off the anger in his own words, as he slowly inched closer, with his many hands primed and ready. Like a little cub intimidating a big lion- most likely Sensei- he strode forward with a deliberate clang in his step. He projected his killing intent into the world, but the thing about killing intent was this; it leaned heavily on comparison. If you were able to withstand the murderous intentions of a beast, then it was natural that you would be able to withstand the intent of a cub. Only in the case of a change in quality or quantity would the other beast be able to frighten him.  But no matter how much the cub tried to be the lion, it hadn't grown up enough yet. Mentally or physically.

"As to why I can call him Sensei, there is a reason to that."

"Spit it out."

"Like I was saying, Sensei implicitly spoke to me on that very subject. More specifically, he said I could call him Sensei."

The words seemed to have diffused most of the man-child's anger, but a sliver of anger still existed. A fraction of madness that lay stabbed deep within the heart itself. It was evidenced by the slightest crease of a brow, and the faint indecipherable glean in his wine-like eyes.

'It seems that I've managed to piss off the boss of this whole operation so easily. How quaint. Why does All for One put him in charge? Perhaps it could be his quirk... How any one person can affect the number 1 hero is doubtful though. I need to reevaluate All for One if white-hair was put in place for strategic purposes... I'm still missing something. Something big.'

"If I may ask, what are the organization's current goals?"

The answer came back immediately.

"Kill the useless piece of trash that is All Might!"

'He definitely doesn't seem like the strategic type... It sounds like a personal grudge, which could provide some interesting twists.'

"How are we going to achieve that? Do you have any plans?"

Kurogiri who was staying silent up until now, opened his mouth and answered instead of the white haired man.

"We are currently in the process of recruiting. With more manpower-"

'Could they be planning what I think they're planning.. No, it couldn't be. All for One would get competent subordinates. I can only probe.'

Deku simply looked Kurogiri dead in the eye and asked a simple question.

"You want to kill the world's greatest hero relying simply on human wave tactics? I simply cannot see the possibility of that working out."

"You're saying that getting more people on board is wrong?"

'He's not wrong but... There's more to it than that.'

Deku let his gaze wonder, until he found a rather nice (ripped up) poster of All Might.

"Of course not, the deciding factor of wars is never the tactics," He took a step forward. "It's not the strategies, either," He was right in front of the poster now. "It's always the numbers that get the win in the end. One man will drown if ten thousand others spit. But, you are forgetting one thing."

Kurogiri's 'eyes' were barely visible slits of light, and the white haired man looked like he wanted t0 kill him immediately, but Deku simply continued to talk. His face was as placid as a stone, his eyes were as still as a frozen lake, his entire being radiated calmness. Perhaps that was what made them stay their hand. A lion grazing out in the prairie was not to be despaired: they were predictable, out in the open, and could be avoided. A viper on the other hand... They hide in the grass, in the shadows. They struck out when their target was least aware, and it was always lethal.

"You are forgetting that All Might isn't the only hero that exists. Even if you gathered a big army the likes of which the world has ever seen, All Might isn't without his either. A single call from the World's beloved Symbol of Peace will gather heroes from all over the world like moths to a flame. And what do you need when armies are of similar size? You need tactics. Strategies."

"You need long-term plans," He strode to the side to grab a dart off the table.

"You need me."

The dart hit the middle of All Might's forehead.

(Villain Deku; My Hero Academia Fanfic)

Think to yourself, just this one little question-
"What if the Sludge Villain never got away?"

Warnings: Gore, Brainwashing, Murder, Suicide, Bullying, Depression, Self-harm.
I don't own the cover, and if the artist wants it taken down I will do so immediately.

classics like wands of fireball, magic missile, and so on, but the REAL gems i found in the discount bin
ApprenticeWu (Heaven Continent): I'm sorry, What? A Magic Shop with a Discount Bin? I'm almost afraid to ask what Kind of Wands end up There.
stupiddiaperbaby (Lori an Twig): cantrips mostly, you know, create water, dancing lights, but listen to this: a spell that lets you read minds, but only if the target is thinking about showtunes
ApprenticeWu (Heaven Continent): That sounds... Spectacularly Useless.
stupiddiaperbaby (Lori an Twig): transmute pie flavor
ApprenticeWu (Heaven Continent): Does that allow Transmutation between Sweet and Savory as well?
stupiddiaperbaby (Lori an Twig): unclear. here's a good one: sconeskin
ApprenticeWu (Heaven Continent): Do... do you mean Stoneskin?
stupiddiaperbaby (Lori an Twig): says sconeskin, with a c. very clear. i bought it
ApprenticeWu (Heaven Continent): Do be careful not to use that one too close to Tea Time...
======= Today =======
IGotASword (Avitria): how come all the heroes in herochat are summons or reincarnations?
Whatsamana (Earth Q): it's right there in the title
Whatsamana (Earth Q): "interdimensional"
IGotASword (Avitria): oh i thought that just meant it operates across dimensions, like an international organization
ApprenticeWu (Heaven Continent): Would the proper Terminology not be "Transdimensional?"
Whatsamana (Earth Q): uh
IGotABook (Avitria): I believe the prefixes "trans-" and "inter-" can be used interchangeably in this context.
IGotASword (Avitria): is there a system for... i guess non-transdimensional heroes?
ApprenticeWu (Heaven Continent): "Intradimensional Heroes" would probably be the correct Term.
Whatsamana (Earth Q): uhhhh modus? you know this?
Whatsamana (Earth Q): @ModusOperandi (Dreamland)
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): You know I do have important things to do.
Whatsamana (Earth Q): you're herochat tech support, that means you have to answer our stupid questions
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): I know people that would hunt you down for saying that, but okay.
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): The Interdimensional Heroic Support System is installed in its host during transit between dimensions, hence, all users of the system must have traveled between dimensions at some point as a prerequisite to acquire the system.
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): There are newer, better methods of distribution available now, but to take advantage of them would require an overhaul of the System's code base.
Whatsamana (Earth Q): there you have it
IGotASword (Avitria): it's not a very satisfying explanation...
ApprenticeWu (Heaven Continent): So the Hero System could assist a broader range of Heroes, if only the Bureau programmers weren't so Lazy?
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): Programming and distributing a techno-magical interdimensional pseudo-neural-based application is not as easy as it sounds.
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): But yeah basically.
Whatsamana (Earth Q): so do non-trans-intradimensional heroes get a system?
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): Like I said, there are other distribution methods, and there are some hobby projects out there that pop up from time to time. Like... ugh... Banana System.
ApprenticeWu (Heaven Continent): You really should Port HeroChat to another System one of these days.
Whatsamana (Earth Q): i hear fmsys is popular
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): Over my dead body.
IGotABook (Avitria): I would be interested in learning the methods of interdimensional programming. How does one get started?
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): I have some guides and things I can send you if you're interested. To do anything really impressive, though, you need to be a bit higher on the power scale.
IGotASword (Avitria): there's a power scale? how high?
Whatsamana (Earth Q): over nine thousand?
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): That was figurative. I mean it's not something a regular mortal can do. You need to have access to what you might call the levers of the universe.
Whatsamana (Earth Q): sudo edit reality?
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): Basically.
IGotASword (Avitria): i don't know what that means but it sounds impressive
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): If you're a hero long enough, eventually you'll reach it. Or die horribly, but that's not always as big an obstacle as you'd think.
IGotABook (Avitria): Understood.
IGotASword (Avitria): ooh he's got that look in his eyes
ApprenticeWu (Heaven Continent): A Look?
IGotASword (Avitria): yeah the "i'm going to kill god and take his place" look
ApprenticeWu (Heaven Continent): Is this a Common Expression for him...?
IGotASword (Avitria): he is very serious about learning things
Whatsamana (Earth Q): book is surprisingly aggressive
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): Just so everyone is clear, killing god is, in fact, illegal.
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): But if you're going to do it anyway, there are a couple that have been getting on my nerves lately...
Whatsamana (Earth Q): chariot been trashing your handiwork again?
ModusOperandi (Dreamland): Screw all of those guys honestly.
===============
Several people are typing...

The multiverse is a scary place for a hero! Demon lords, man eating monsters, alien invasions, you name it, it can probably kill you! Fortunately, you don't have to face it alone: introducing the official* Interdimensional Heroic Support Chat Server! Get advice from heroes that have gone before you, and from others experiencing their hero's journey right now! Magic sword not working? Princess kidnapped? No problem! IHSC is here to support you!

*IHSC is not affiliated in any official capacity with the Offices of Interdimensional Heroic Support.

===============

We have a Discord!
https://discord.gg/ucKzXBp

As I waited, I slowly began shifting my location to one of those tall branches in the trees. I passed with some difficulty, as even if I can float to a certain height, I can't fly you see. But never fear, because [Soul Force] IS HERE!

As I began wondering about how to climb the tree, I had an idea. Using the Shapeshifting of [Soul Force], I created some ghost-like tendrils from my wisp-like form, and with such, I began climbing one of the tall trees. 
It was arduous, my tendrils didn't have that much strength in them, just enough to pull me from my floating height to one of the thick branches. (And the feeling of having tentacles is very strange, like having boneless arms, but maybe it can be useful in bed- I mean, battle, yes, battle.) As soon as I set my figurative feet on the branch surface… 

[*Ding!*]

[ Special skill [Soul Force] leveled up to level 2!]

'Aah, the addictive feeling of power coursing through me. Okie Dokie, now all I need to do is wait till one of those behemoths is almost dead, then I will finish him…' And then I waited, and waited, and waited. '…WHAT'S WRONG WITH THESE BEASTS! WHY DON'T THEY JUST DIE ALREADY!! I'M WAITING HERE FOR A WHOLE HOUR! HOW CAN THEY HAVE SO MUCH STAMINA!?' 

I was just baffled with how long these beasts could go on a fight, in the sixty minutes that I waited, they almost tore each other multiple times already. In turf wars they just snuggled a little then the Dreadfull pickle will go John Cena on something. The aftermath is: they're weakened, the perfect scenario for a Kill steal. 

But it's not like things didn't change. Both of them were already panting with wounds all over their bodies, but even then, the bloodlust just intensified the longer the battle went on. After some more Waltzing, they finally reached an epilogue, with the lion falling to the ground, exhausted. 

*GRAAAGAGAGAAAAAAAOOOO*

The triumphant roar of the wyvern resounded, pushing the dust from the surroundings, and giving me the best view of my target. With the free time I obviously wasn't just waiting, how could I? A gamer in nature would grind the hell out of his skills when he gets some free time, wouldn't he?

[*Ding!*]

[Special skill [Soul Force] leveled up to level 5!]

[*Ding!*]

[Certain conditions have been achieved, Normal Skill [Stealth (LVL 1)] has been rewarded!]

[*Ding!*]

[Host's actions have been recognized by the system! The Host has been bestowed the title {Attentive one}!! Normal skill [Analysis (LVL 1)] has been rewarded!]

Reaping the rewards of my grind, I could now manipulate my mass to form an infinitely more complex construct than tendrils, and now, my new baby is aimed directly at a certain bastard, just according to keikaku. 'Then… NOW!'

*BANG!!*
*GUUURWAAAAAAAAAAAA!!*

[*Ding!*]

[Certain conditions have been achieved Normal skill [Marksmanship (LVL 1)] has been rewarded!]

'BOOM HEADSHOT!!' Good ol' memes aside, that really was a good shot. The weapon I made is nothing more and nothing less than a sniper as it was my favorite weapon in every FPS I played. What, you thought I just played RPG and etc? For your information, I'm a well-cultured player, and as such I mustn't judge a game for its gender!

As chivalrous as it sounds, the truth is that the time my PC broke, I borrowed an old notebook from my neighbor, and the only thing the ancient creature could process was the equally old CS. So, much to my despair, I was forced to play it and surprisingly fell in love with (Sniping bastards from afar) the gender. After that, I did what I do better, played every single game of the gender and similar, obviously, after repairing my PC.

And about my weapon? I modeled the sniper to resemble a Dragunov, the Soviet babe, Mama Russia's best gift for Snipers. And befitting my headhunter title in games, I got a magnificent headshot… In the scaly bastard, obviously. 

Oh ho, so you think I should have reaped the lion first? Oh my little grasshopper, if I did, how would I kill the furious Big ass Wyvern after? I could just land this shot because he lowered his guard, thinking he had already won, otherwise I would be pretty much screwed when he evaded or blocked my ghost bullet. And don't worry, I had plans for the lion already, but just after I finished the Vitas-in-scales that was actually thrashing around in pain. Soul damage is scary… 
While the wyvern was rolling around (babe around), its head was leaking fountains, not of blood but of soul power. Soul power, by my humble research, is the power the soul collects during the life span, not its structure or its true essence. The soul damage I just inflicted the wyvern, is dealt to the soul structure, which is more like a cardiovascular system that pumps soul power instead of blood, and the center is in the head. And I shot his head, where the soul power is more concentrated. 

The scene was somewhat magical. Jets of multicolored wispy plasma were gushing from its head, the once fearsome amount of pressure of the wyvern being reduced by the tics of the clock. How the mighty has fallen, indeed. The wyvern kept struggling, but before he could somehow stop the 'Animusray,' he was already in half the capacity. What a fearsome tool soul damage is, to reduce a behemoth of a being to one struggling to stay on its talons. 

After getting up, the wyvern was wary, scanning everything in its surroundings, searching for the source of the damage he just received. Sadly for him, it was already too late. 'System, activate [Soul Siphoning]!' without delay, my soul mass began to compress and compress, till my basketball-sized wisp reached a size of a grape. A powerful force surrounded me like I had just become some sort of soul black hole. But it seems it wasn't all, as after shrinking I began to spin like crazy. 

Immediately after it, a type of pounding resounded from me. With the first, the wisps from the wyvern, which were floating around, came rushing to me. With the second, they shot like bullets to me, so fast that they left a trail of light after then, like a bunch of shooting stars, finally hitting me. The feeling is, how can I say it? It's like being burned from inside out, but half the pain is pleasure, (I'm NOT an M. I guess) filling me the with burning feeling of power. But it was not over. 

With the third *THUMP*, I felt the strange force changing the scenery.  The wyvern, who was astonished by the scene, began tripping over his own talons while the lion was being pulled from its spot on the ground. The two behemoths were pulled to me, but fortunately for them, they got a hold of some trees. A futile struggle for what came after. 

With the forth *THUMP! *, The trees where they were holding began to break, loud *CRACK* noises came from their roots. The wyvern, who managed to stop the leaking soul power, had a sour surprise in this one. The fountain of plasma came back to life and began draining him so quickly that in a bat of an eye, he fell lifeless in the ground, not being pulled anymore. 'System, stop. That's enough for now.'

As suddenly as it came, the pulling force stopped. The lion fell again on the ground, even more, exhausted than before. 

[*Ding!*]

[Congratulations host! Your soul power rose from 500 to 940! Lesser Fire Dragon Soul acquired! New attributes have been unlocked!]

[*Ding!*]

[Special skill [Soul Force] leveled up to level 6!]

[*Ding!*]

[Host's actions have been recognized by the system! The host has been bestowed the title {Black Horse}!! The Normal skill [Surprise (LVL 1)] has been rewarded!]

[*Ding!*] 

[Host's actions have been recognized by the system! The host has been bestowed the title {Predator}!! The uncommon skill [Predation (LVL 1)] has been rewarded!]

'Guehehehehe, yes, power, give me more POWER!' Feeling like a certain Katana badass twin, I felt something else being drained from the wyvern corpse, and here's the surprise, because after it… 

[*Ding!*]

[Host has killed a foe! System has absorbed its life energy! As it's host's first kill, a commemorative gift has been given! Host has been rewarded 25 Status Points and 3 System Points!]

[*Ding!*]

[Host has leveled up to 5! Host has achieved the max level for its current species!! Evolution System has been enabled!! Now host can transcend its existence into higher ones!!]

[*Ding!*]

[The surplus of life energy absorbed has been stored by the status system.]

'GODDAMMIT!! I SHOT ALL THE WAY TO LEVEL 5!! AND THERE'S STILL EXCESS OF ENERGY!! HOW STRONG WAS THAT WYVERN?! Wait… I CAN EVOLVE TOO?! DID I BECOME A POCKET MONSTER NOW?!?! WILL SOMEONE TRY TO CATCH ME?!' Have you ever thought about being the pokemon being captured? Well, that was the first time I had such an epiphany. 

'Ah! Fuck it, what matters now is that I'm stronger, let's get so strong that even Chernobyl's Ashe Catchum from the horny dragon show will not dare come close. And that reminds me…' I then change my focus to the lion laying down on the ground, even more exhausted than before. The tree in which it got to hold was all cracked and with deep claw scars. Well, they destroyed half the forest already, so what's an extra tree in the equation. 

'Let's catch him' At this moment I felt like a certain forever 10 years old kid, eager for a new sla-, I mean, friend. How the table has flipped, huh? At this moment you may be thinking 'But Vasta-chan, you don't want to be ensla-, captured, so why would you do it to him?' have you ever come across a legendary in a random bush? Didn't you want to capture it too? So, let's get to the hypocritical pit together, mah Bros and sis, sisses, sies, siesta? Yeet it, whatever is the plural of sis. (Does it even have a plural?)

As I moved towards the Lion, I expected him to just keep laying down, like a fallen colossus, but it seems it's not that easy. As soon as I got out of my miraculously (plot) intact branch, the lion got back on its paws weakly and began growling towards me. But it's growl was strange. Like it was not just a threat from a cornered beast, it was trying to transmit something beyond it. 

'Pl… please… run… now… don't… look back… !' 'What? Why would I have to run?' The fight probably dreaded the surrounding fauna for as long as my senses can pick, so there's nothing to be afraid for now. 'And wait a minute, how can I understand it?'. But turns out, the plea was not meant for me. 

*wosh* *wosh *wosh*
*crack* *crack*

I heard something getting near us, and it came up with a very unexpected thing. Or to be more accurate an unexpected encounter. 

*Swaash* 
*crack* *crack*

From the bushes, three wild orange-skinned children appeared! But that's not the most shocking part, the real shock came with what they said after. (And the fact I could somehow understand the native language from underworld aborigines)
The taller child came before the towering lion, and to my surprise, opened his arms in front of it, like he was blocking me. "DON'T HURT MAMA!!" And then he dropped the nuke¹.

———————————————————

¹- lol, when I tried to type nuke, I got a Nike, and laughed really hard imagining the boy dropping a sneaker out of nowhere in the scene. Like, he's gonna say "Let Mama go and I give you my shoes!"

In my short romance with truck-kun, I was sent to meet Go-, joke, he's not God, but he sent me on my way with a system and a skill! just that the place I went was... not somewhere normal. 






it's my first novel I'm posting here, and as my english is still under training, there can be grammatical errors and plot holes, so please point them so we all can have a good experience. 

There will be battle, cruelty, sex, somewhat enslaving, and some more, so be warned.
I'm a lazy ass dude, so there probably won't be a fixed number of chapters

Rakesh… Rakesh, wake up its 9 :30 just thirty minutes till your school starts, wake up "let me sleep for five more minutes moon just five minutes"  again tucking the blanket over his head Rakesh pleads to his mom.
Mrs Sharma was trying to get her son up from his slumber, this was his senior year at high school and the final exams were knocking on the door, yet her son never studied even an hour at home, but wasted time video games and other useless stuffs and now he is even late for school.

After trying to wake her son up for 30 minutes, Mrs Sharma was at her wits end and in her fit of rage she poured a bucket of cold water over his head after pulling the blanket off of him. With ice cold water all over his body Rakesh woke up from the shock, saw his mom with the bucket.

Mrs Sharma was waiting there with a smiling face to see her goal being achieved, yet a few seconds later her face had an even more furious expression as things did not go as she expected. Instead Rakesh just kept sleeping after wiping his face with the blanket and sliding to the dry side of bed.

Furious Mrs Sharma could not take it anymore and came down the stairs with figurative hot steam rising above her head looking for someone to vent her anger.

Knowing very well what's happening on the upper floor and what will become of him if his betterhalf sees him Mr Sharma hurriedly put on his office shoes and ran towards the door as if running for his life. Only after starting his car did he breathe a sigh of relief and felt bad for the person on whom his wife will vent her anger.

Mrs Sharma does not find her husband on the ground floor or any living being. She calls her best friend Mrs Batra to talk bad about her son and husband which has become a routine. And as a routine Mrs Batra also starts badmouthing her son and husband the same way.

During the mean time Rakesh has come down to the leaving room listening the routine chit chat between his mother and Mrs Batra.

He is already dressed in the school uniform with his school bag and grabs his breakfast bread and jam which has already been made by his mother and tries tiptoe to the door and leave for school quietly without making any noise while keeping attention to every single movement of his mother as to not draw any attention.

But accidently his hands touch the decorative vase kept near the exit, the vase falls down due to the impact and keeps falling for time which seemed like eternity to Rakesh. He tried utmost to his ability to catch the vase but as he saw all his effort in vain he made the dash to the door for his life and ran for a good few hundred meters only then he breathes a sigh of relief.

Mrs Sharma hearing the sound of something falling down and seeing the shadow of her son sprinting out of the door, drops her call. She did not seem angry anymore instead had a bitter smile on her face.

She thinks about her who had never been a trouble maker, and has always been a good student even though she had never seen him studying in home, he always came in the top ten in his class for which she had always been proud. Everything about him was good except for his laziness and disinterest in putting the extra effort. 

Although she had never seriously worried about her son's future she always worried that her son is never going to live up to his potential.

Thinking about the uncertain future of her son and his easy go lucky attitude she has no option rather to pray in her mind" Ooh Mahadev* please bless my son with some SAD-BUDDHI*". Then she goes off to do her chores.

In the meantime Rakesh who was hurrying to the school does not have the faintest of ideas of what fate has in store for him. He, whose name will be known to all of humanity in a few years of time.

Apocalypse, the end of the world as we know     
it. 
What will you do if suddenly out of 
nowhere everything in the world changes.
lets go on a journey and experience it with Rakesh, an easy go lucky fellow.

"Just double checking." I addressed the receptionist shortly after she finished telling us about the guild and our new membership. "You said that you guys buy dead monsters, right?"

"We do. I can take anything you have and don't need off your hands right away."

Admittedly, I do feel just a bit bad about having the hero blow all her cash on us, so I might as well grab myself some pocket change. I prepared to reach into my item box, but stopped myself short of activating the skill.

"Hey Nell. What do you humans think of item boxes?" I leaned over and began whispering to the hero.
"Item boxes? Oh, you mean storage magic?"
"Uhhh yeah. Sure, let's go with that."
"It's a bit rare, but anyone with the affinity for it can use it, so it's not anything particularly off putting."

Sweet. No need to hold back then, I guess. I activated the skill and distorted the area near my right hand by creating what looked like a tear in space itself. I reached inside it and began to look around for something to sell. Let's see… I probably shouldn't sell the stuff that I need to work with Rir to take down. That stuff's way too tasty. Cashing it in would be wasteful. I guess I'll just dump a few of the monsters I can take out with just one punch.

I pulled out several corpses and placed them atop the counter.

"B-Bro, you see that? The guy just pulled out a Horned Tiger!"
"Aye. And that's not all. Look, he's got a god damned Bloody Bear!"
"Holy hell! There's even a Marmodoltis!" [1]

The few people who happened to be looking my way reacted with shock. The extent of their surprise drew more gazes, leading to yet a second group exclaiming their surprise. The vicious cycle repeated itself until every single adventurer in the guild had their heads craned towards me.

"Fmph." I crossed my arms. A large grin spread across my face as I looked over the shocked peanut gallery. Behold, peasants. Behold my power and understand your inferiority. Mwahahahaha!

"Cease your blatant idiocy, Yuki. Finish your business so that we can leave."
"Oh come on…" I sighed as Lefi poured a figurative bucket of icy cold water right over my head. "Couldn't you have let me bask in the sensation for a little? Why'd you have to butt in right away? Like, come on? A little fun can't hurt, can it?"
"Yes, yes, you and your fun." The dragon girl rolled her eyes. "Very well, do what you must, but emphasize speed. I am bored of this place. We have dawdled here for far too long."
"Fine…" I reluctantly turned towards the receptionist, who was frozen stiff with her eyes and jaw wide open. "So uh, you mind getting me my cash?"
"R-Right, just one second." The receptionist unfroze and fiddled around a bit before handing me a bag of coins. "T-thank you for your patience. Here's what we owe you."
"Aight, thanks."
"T-Thank you very much for your patronage! Please come again!" I saw the receptionist bow out of the corner of my eye as I turned around and exited the guild.

***

"Hey Nell. Catch."
"Huh? Wha!?"

I divided the cash I got from the guild in half right as we left the building. I dumped one half in storage and casually chucked the other, pouch and all, at the hero.

"What's this for?"
"You know how we made you blow all that money while we were walking around town?"
"H-huh!? This is for that!? N-No way! This is like, way, way more than what I spent!" Shock filled her voice yet again as she opened the bag and examined its contents.
"I mean, what the hell am I supposed to do with it? It's not like I'm going to be spending it or anything. Plus, I owe you for all the stuff you've taught me about human society. Just think of it as me paying tuition."
"Really? Are you sure you won't ask for it back later?"
"Naw. Just take it."

"Thanks so much!" The hero fumbled around in panic and almost dropped the bag as she tried to figure out where to put it. That's weird. I guess she must've had money trouble growing up or something.

Though she was more than strong enough to take out the monsters I just sold with ease, she clearly wasn't used to having anything more than just a bit of pocket change.

"Oh right. What's this thing anyway?" I pulled out the card I got from the Adventurers' Guild and pointed to the pattern engraved upon it.
"That's your magic crest." The hero responded after finally deciding to fasten the bag of coins to her waist. "Your crest reflects your mana's wavelength, and everyone's is different. The crest will glow a bit if you channel your mana through it."
"Does it?" I followed her prompt and cycled a tiny bit of my magical energy through the card. Sure enough, the wavelike crest began to give off a faint light.
"It only glows if its owner is the person channeling, so it makes for really good ID. You can't just pretend to be someone you're not."
"Huh. I'm impressed. These cards have got a lot more to them than I was giving them credit for." I said. "But wait, what about people that don't have mana?"
"What do you mean people that don't have mana? Everyone has mana." The hero gave me the most incredulous look as she questioned my lack of common sense. Oh… I see. So this is one of those worlds.

"The closest thing you'll get to someone without mana is someone that can't really control the flow of their mana." The hero continued. "They're considered exceptions, and they tend to have their own specially made ID cards."

Man, I have to say, this whole ID thing is really well put together. I guess mankind's ingenuity really isn't something to be underestimated, huh?

"So it's like this everywhere?"
"Not really," said the hero. "This city is one of the only places where everything is so nice and organised. It tends to be a lot more sloppy everywhere else."

Or not. There goes that idea. I hadn't realized it when I first met him, but I now understood that the city's governor was actually quite the capable ruler.

"Oh, and does the crest mean anything?"
"There's been some talk about how they're supposed to take different forms based on the person's elemental affinities, but no one really knows for sure since their patterns aren't really that clear or consistent."

Hmm… yeah, that seems about right. I'm best at water magic, and the crest I have kinda reminds me of both 水, the kanji for water, and 川, the kanji for river. You know what? I actually kinda like the way this crest thing of mine looks. I should try carving it into the next weapon I make. [2]

"What's your crest look like, Lefi?" I turned towards the dragon girl off to my side.
"See it for yourself." Lefi pulled her guild card out of one of the pockets in her dress and showed it to me.
"Looks like… fire…?"
"Indeed." Lefi nodded. "Though I have refrained from demonstrating it, my greatest proficiency is in wreathing flame."
"Yeah, I don't really think I've seen you use it much, if at all."
"I have yet to see an opportunity to demonstrate it." Lefi smiled wryly. "Fire, by nature, has little purpose but burn and destroy. You have greater proficiency for both water and earth than you do the flame, and I thought it better to instruct you in aspects pertaining to your strengths."

That's a little too self-demeaning if you ask me.

"Iunno, Lefi. I think fire's good for more than just reducing stuff to cinders. I think it's awesome. It's really flashy and cool. Plus, I mean, fire just, you know, suits you. It makes me think of passion and warmth."
"Really?" Lefi seemed taken aback.
"Yeah. I mean, you're you, Lefi. I'm sure your flames would be nice, warm and comfy."

Lefi's lips curved into a satisfied smile as she took an extra large step forward and began walking right by my side.

Before I realized, I had become the guardian of a dungeon, a Demon Lord. I was suddenly in a dangerous world with giant monsters loitering around, fighting for their existence, so I thought to go about developing the dungeon in order to not die but —- for some reason I was having quite the good time…. How did it turn out like this?

The protagonist, Yuki, having to live in that world now, uses his bold and sharp senses and spends time with a supreme dragon girl and a vampire girl; Sometimes laughing, sometimes being angry, passing days doing what he likes.

Chrys immediately started shadowing me the next day. As I delegated simple tasks for her to perform, I could tell right away that she was used to helping out in the kitchen.
Typically, an experienced chef could tell from the body language how skilled one was. From Chrys's posture and the way that she held her knife, I was relieved that I didn't have to worry about her. The last thing I wanted was to take care of the heavily bandaged hands of a common personality trope.
It seemed like she had a rudimentary understanding of mana usage as well, as she had already learned how to inject mana into objects. However, it took a little bit for her to become accustomed to the magic tools that didn't exist in her previous world. Once she got over her initial hesitation, she started fiddling with them like any curious child her age.
To my surprise, she was a very fast learner. She could trace many of my motions, albeit at a slower pace.
"You've done this before, haven't you?"
"I used to help Mother in the kitchen. She would even let me stand by the fire occasionally."
"Wow, you seem pretty mature. My mom would be kicking me out of the kitchen at your age." I chuckled as I recalled how annoyed she would get as I buzzed around her like a fly. "You know what? I have an idea."
I fetched another, smaller pot and placed it on the burner next to mine. There was a stool nearby, so I also grabbed that and put it in front of the small pot.
"Here, let's make some stew together." I motioned to Chrys that she was in charge of the smaller pot.
With that in place, I had her imitate the same recipe for fish stew, telling her to half the portions for her own pot. She diligently followed along with each step and imitated my motions in an exaggerated manner. I couldn't help but smile at her earnest efforts.
As the fragrance from the two pots permeated throughout the room, I spooned a little from each into sampling dishes. It was, of course, the chef's job to sample their own cooking before presenting it to customers, so I set aside a pair of dishes for both Chrys and me. I motioned for her to give it a taste.
Grabbing the sample from my pot, the stew tasted rich, savory, and had a slight aftertaste of fish. Picking up the sample from Chrys's pot, I expected to taste more or less the same. However, my eyes blinked as a different spectrum of flavors tickled my tongue.
Her stew tasted more nutty and earthy, and lacked the distinct taste of the sea. Though her cooking technique was not as developed, I had watched her carefully to prevent any mistakes. The small deviations that I observed shouldn't have resulted in such a stark flavor change. I stood there, a bit puzzled at where it had gone differently.
Kanade walked by at that moment with Ludmila behind her. They were fetching the dinnerware to set the table.
"Hey Mrs. Kanade, can you give these two a try? I don't understand how the flavors could diverge so much even though the two of us cooked it nearly the same."
Kanade gently took the new samples that I scooped for her and tried each one in turn, while Ludmila left to go set the table. After smacking her lips a few times, she came up with the answer.
"I see…it appears that certain ingredients may have been enhanced more than others, resulting in this difference."
"Enhanced? By mana, you mean?"
"Yes. A chef's touch is a fickle thing when it comes to imitating another's dish. After all, aren't we all affected by our likes and dislikes? Subconsciously, one would tend to enhance the ingredients that align with one's personal tastes."
Thinking about my own cooking, it did seem like the flavors that I liked most tended to dominate the dish, but I blamed my subconscious for being a bit heavy-handed with the measuring. However, I had casually overlooked how much shiitake mushroom, my most hated food, I had to use to get the flavor right. But if I had failed to enhance the shiitake, that explained why I had to use so much to balance out the other ingredients.
Chrys���s dish lacked the flavors of fish and certain spices, so it seemed like I had indirectly discovered her preferences. When I asked her, she confirmed my suspicions.
"I've rarely eaten fish. And I don't know some of these spices." She pointed to the ones that were grown in more tropic climates, like Macali.
As a result, Chrys had enhanced the ingredients that she was familiar with – the vegetables and herb-based spices that garnished the dish. Thus, the stew had ended up closer to something that she was accustomed to.
"That's interesting. There are various aspects that I never knew were possible in this world. It certainly wasn't the case in mine." After all, mana didn't exist there.
"Mana manipulation is an endless discipline. You wouldn't have high-class alchemists and apothecaries if that weren't the case. It requires skill to control one's own quirks to draw out the most potential from the basic ingredients."
A figurative light bulb lit in my mind. If skillful mana control was required to produce items with desired effects, couldn't that be the case for cooking as well? I recalled many herbal remedies that my parents worked with that exhibited healing effects, though it benefited things like blood sugar and cholesterol rather than recovering HP. In this world, true restorative items could be possibility.
"Say, is it possible to craft powerful healing items through food?" I looked to Kanade for confirmation.
"Hmm? In practice, mana-infused food does recover a small amount of one's own health and mana. I'm not sure how far those effects could be stretched…"
It was something to experiment with, one that strangely lit a fire in me.
The next day, I visited the market and grabbed everything that I could think of that reminded me of the medicinal rack that my mom had in her office. With it laid out on top of the countertop, I paced around trying to think of how exactly to use them.
Only after I had bought the collection of strange roots and plants did I realize one thing – I knew of no recipes that went with these ingredients.
"Guess I'll just have to blend them into some dish and see."
30 minutes later.
"Bleeeccch! Dear God, what have I created?!"
A foul, sharp taste assaulted my tongue and wouldn't be washed away. I had poured my mana into enhancing the random ingredients in the pot of curry that I had made. I had chosen curry because of the versatility of the dish when it came to a wide profile of flavors, but not even I could make it taste good. After pouring my mana into the ingredients with potential healing effects, the taste of it had become overpowered by this addition. Now, I was staring at a pot of curry that tasted as unpleasant as poison.
However, since I came this far, I had to test the effects. After asking Lau to sock me in the stomach to lower my HP, which had dropped roughly 15%. I reluctantly took a bite of the curry. The taste of it was so bad that I had to spit it out. Seeing no other option, I fetched some ice to suck on, letting the coldness numb my taste buds before trying again.
I forced a bite of curry down. Nothing happened. I took another bite. Yet, my numbers did not move.
"Aw, screw it." I shoveled the whole bowl of curry into my mouth and swallowed it, giving my already-numbed tongue as little time as possible to taste the repulsive concoction.
Yet, nothing seemed to happen, which made me regret even trying in the first place. I probably should go look for this world's equivalent of Pepto.
I heard a chuckle from behind me. Turning around, Lau was holding his side while trying not to laugh.
"Hey boy, don't you know? For the effects of food to work, it requires a bit of time for your body to process and absorb it. It's different from potions that are designed to absorb through your skin."
As if right on cue, I felt a slight warmth permeate through my body. I looked at my health bar, which had returned to full. Well, I guess it did work, but the taste left in question as to who would willingly subject themselves to it unless there was no other option. Reducing the horrid taste would dilute its effects, and there was likely only so much that I could do to cover it. It was truly too much to ask for instant success at the hands of an amateur.
"If you want to pursue this kind of path, it would be best to consult some professional potion makers."
"Thanks, Captain Obvious."
"Aside from this. I came bearing good news. We figured out Little Miss Elf's ability."
I nearly dropped the pot at this. "Wait, really? What is it?" I set it aside to deal with it later.
"I think it's better if you see it for yourself."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well, this was not something I expected to see…"
Chrys was currently chasing Katsys around the courtyard, merrily giggling while pelting the poor inventor girl repeatedly with pellets from a toy gun. Though Katsys turned around occasionally to fire back, none of them appeared to connect with the smaller girl.
"That's odd. Katsys is getting owned pretty badly at this. Is she letting her win on purpose?" The girl that I knew had better aim than that.
"No, look closely. At the trajectory of the beads." Lau traced his finger to follow the pellets sailing through the air.
I focused ahead as Chrys fired several rounds. Each of them pegged Katsys in the back. Despite her best efforts dodging, every pellet had smacked her back in nearly the same spot.
"You see it now? That's some deadly accuracy." Lau stroked his chin. What child could manage to strike the exact same area on a moving target continuously? The chances of that were astronomical. "Now look at the beads fired at young Chrys."
Paying attention to the other side now, Katsys fired back several rounds in response. This did not change Chrys's forward advance. For a child that knew nothing about dodging and cover, she had kept running in a straight line, which would make her an easy target to hit. Yet, the pellets sailed past her without making any contact to her body.
I rubbed my eyes before looking again, this time focusing on the individual pellets moving through the air. Though they appeared like they would fly straight into Chrys, the pellets curved in the air away from the intended target, thereby missing her completely. One or two I could blame on the wind, but every single one curved away in this manner.
"From your expression, it seems like you are in doubt as to what you see." Lau's voice brought me out of the trance. I lifted the jaw that hung loosely in surprise.
"The secret of a maxed-out Luck has been solved – unrivaled accuracy and evasion."
Auto-aim and auto-evade, huh? Wouldn't that potentially make Luck the most overpowered skill of all? There had to be a catch to this. Before I could ponder, Lau picked up a stray pellet from the ground.
"It is not infallible though." Lau flicked the pellet. It sailed through the air and pegged Chrys in the back of the head, which caused her to lightly shriek in response. "If she does not perceive the attack, then it remains unaffected."
It seemed funny to me that her Luck would only kick in under those conditions, but then again, one's Attack and Defense worked in a similar manner. If something wasn't recognized as an attack, then the stats of this world didn't trigger. Surprise attacks disregarded defense when intent was not registered.  It felt like someone had left some loopholes in the programming when the world was created.
Footsteps sounded down the hallway, growing louder as they approached us.
"Dear! There's a large group in front of our house! Sister went to handle them, but they are carrying the holy emblem of Mitsubishi!" Kanade called to us as she approached.
"Hmph. Should have expected that they'd take this up to the top. Harboring a 'demon' is nothing to make light of, even if it is nothing more than a mistaken rumor." Lau sighed, thinking that he would rather not be dealing with such troublesome people.
Feeling the change in the air, Chrys had stopped playing and gripped onto Katsys's robe. She could somehow sense the seriousness of the coming situation.
"Let's go. Depending on what happens, we may have to quickly plan our escape from this country." This was but one possibility that was in my mind. By accepting Chrys into our lives, we would be putting an undue burden on our hosts.

Cover Art by Neo and Yaoyueyi
Volume 1 -
Having been summoned to another world, Claude Evers is devastated to find out that he has no attack or magic proficiency. In a world of swords and magic, Claude endeavors to become his master's...chef? Despite this turn of events, he soon finds himself relying on his wit and strange abilities to stand by his master's side. With such fearsome enemies in this world, what solutions can Claude hope to cook up?

Volume 2 -
Defeating a terrifying monster endangering the kingdom, Claude's fame grows. With this in mind, his next goal is to...win over his master's heart? However, he soon learns that the nobility are not one to be trifled with. What can a lone chef do against the schemes of the powerful threatening his livelihood?

Volume 3 -
Welcome to the 'Certain Slice', where we are sure to serve you something that perfectly hits your tastes. This is a restaurant where you can sample our line of otherworldly food and drink, created by the one and only Demon Cleaver. Please wait here while we call a maid over to attend to your orders. The owner? I'm very sorry. He's not available at the moment. The reason? I'm afraid that he is now a wanted man, for defying kings and kidnapping princesses.

Volume 4 -
Stuck in another country, Claude and his companions happen upon abilities far different from what they had known before. With a country full of powerful warriors wielding such techniques, guided by a prophetic Oracle, new allies and enemies are around every corner. Will they find what they need to return home, or will 'destiny' swallow them up?

One week has passed since the day we became rich. The house is now complete with amenities, appliances and designs. Kris and Jack are beginning to feel comfortable with us. My family is quite friendly towards them. 

It is now time for me to investigate the books that I have. The corpse literally had these book when it died. So it must have a value of some kind.

I understand the first book for it is just a diary written in our language. And I started to read the first page.

"My name is Khen Krah. This is my diary starting when I became a powerful. For these are one."

Hmmm. What does it mean by " these are one"? I wonder.(Continues to read..)

"If you want to acquire power, then your mind can easily remember everything."

Hmm? What? This doesn't make any sense. What does the mind got to do with acquiring power? Is it a mind control power? (Continues to read)

"Now you will feel strong in your mind. And after a week, you are done."

Done what? Done as in dead? Or completed something? I can't understand this. Hmmmm.

He continues to read the book but the pattern of sentences are always the same, they don't make a sense in any way. 

Looks at the other book.....

Huh. If " these are one " are the pertaining to these two books. I think I should need to understand the second book first. But I don't even know that writing. Maybe  the librarian can help me.

I copied one sentence in the "not my language" book and I will also bring the diary. I think I should keep the book first in this house for safekeeping. 

I went to the library with Jack Chan. Arriving in the library. The very first thing I noticed is the lack of people. It it literally deserted. I can't even find an employee. (Finds a bell ang rings it.) Odd. I think bells are too loud in a library for people to read. But who knows. maybe it's becuse no one is here.

Then a pretty lady came to us in a hurry and a clumsy way. She is very sexy combining the cuteness with her round glasses, you literally looking at a type of a girl that a lot of guys fantasizes about when they are in the shower.

"Hello Sir. Good morning. What can I do for you Sir?"

..."Hello. I'm just wondering if you have these kind of book here. These language, I can't seem to understand it. Do you have any reasonable ng material that looks like this. (Shows the piece of paper)"

"Let me take a look at it. (Receives the paper and reads it) "Jiakakula Kirataza" Ahhh. This is the spell language that the healers or mages used in their battles. They chant these kind of words when they attack, defends or heals. But they don't really understand the meaning behind those chant. They just memorize the chant and the spell will work."

..."So you say that they use the language but they didn't know what does it mean, just the effects? So if I show this to them, they won't know that it is the spell language that they use?"

"Yes. Teachers or masters of those mages don't really need to teach the language because it is very hard to understand that language. It will take them a lot of time learning it. Just for example is your note right here. "Jiakakula Kirataza". It means "You should have both of these book."

..."Wait a minute. You can understand it? I thought no one can?"

"I didn't say no one. There are some who does. Actually there is only two knows it. An adventurer named Ling Mea and me. By the way, My name is Chi Lie. "

.."Ling Mea? That is one of my teammates. "

"Teammates? Oh! You mean you are a member of the treasure company?" 

(Treasure company? I think that what people calling us now.)

..."Ahh yes."

"It is an honor to meet you Sir."

..."Just call me Kang. I am still new to this stardom. "

"Okay Mr. Kang."

(She added Mr. Hehe. Well I think I will need her to translate everything in the other book. But translating it here would be dangerous. I need a secure location like my house. And maybe I can take her If you know what I am saying. 😁)

..."Ms. Chi are you single?"

"(Blushes.) Ah. No sir. Why did you ask?"

..."Cause I want you to come to my house."

"(Still blushes and surprised) Ahh. Sir I'm flattered and I think you are handsome and you are totally my type but I think you should ask me on a date first before asking me to go to bed with you."

..."(I think I heard her say that I am her type) Huh? What are you saying? I'm just wondering if you can translate a book for me. And it is in my house. I just asked you if you had a boyfriend because it would be not right to ask a girl that has a boyfriend to come in my house. And I would like this to be a secret. I can even pay you for translating it. "

Chi Lie now totally blushes like a hot tomato. She remained silent at first but then she responded.

"Sorry Mr Kang. I misinterpreted what you said. Yes. I am willing to translate it to you sir during my day off. If it is okay with you Mr. Kang?"

..."Yes. Absolutely. Thank you. Here is my address. Come anytime. I am always at home."

And he left the library leaving Chi Lie that is still blushing. 

..."Jack, we should stop at the bakery and buy sweets for our guest when she will visit the house."

'Yes Sir.'

Now that I have a way to understand it. I think my days will be hectic. And It is gonna be fun.

(Hi readers. I hope this story still interests you. Sorry for my poor writing skills. )

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