14 Arc 2 Prologue: Pretty

[Rain, I remember you saying something happened to the next world, what did the higher-ups do?] asked Alexis [Right Host totally forgot that, let me explain.]

Rain continued [So the higher-ups upgraded the world rules so that newcomers can achieve their goals better. What they did was that they created an examination. It examined the emotional stability of the hosts. If you remember, in the last world some of your decisions were not affected by you, but by the original soul's emotion. In a world, the hosts can only feel a fraction of the originals' emotions.

If a host fully immersed themselves completely with the soul, their emotions combine, so your mindset would be greatly affected. However, there is a catch, the original knew how it felt to die, you host, don't exactly feel it, that's one of the reasons why you are a host, so if you felt the feeling of death from the original, your soul will go insane and it will self-destruct. So, testing the emotional strength of a host is really hard.

The higher-ups developed a simulation, where a host will go inside a 'body' which didn't have a soul. The body, however, has memories and emotions. When entering the world, you be living inside the body until it's time, your soul will be dormant. When the time comes, you will be in control of the body. You will feel what the body feels, the trauma, the pain, the anger, the depression, you will feel it. When you gain control, the body's emotions will be yours, as if you felt them yourself. Your body will be the only body without a soul.

The goal is to not commit suicide, you will be living with a trauma, a heavy one. A trauma that needs decades to 'cure', however, you will be given a 5 years limit. If you fail, you will not be able to continue and would have to do the examination again. You will be in control for 5 years, and if you stay alive, you pass, if not.... you fail.

Don't get cocky host, these 5 years will make you want death, one of the features of the exam is that a voice will be in your head, it will tell you to kill yourself in every opportunity possible. It's like as if you have schizophrenia, you will hallucinate, hear stuff, or think about actions with the goal to destroy you. I will also be unable to assist you, I will only act as a timer, you can ask for progress or how much time left, but that's my only job. Johan's soul will also be locked, I will take care of him, don't worry host, but you will not see him.

That's all host, you can now choose the skill that you want to learn:

-Art (like painting, drawing, etc.)

-Musical Instruments

-Voice Control (voice acting, voice change, singing, etc.)

-Weapons

-Business

-Programming]

Alexis was out of words; he has no idea what to expect. He was devastated that he won't be able to see Johan for 1 lifetime. However, the faster he passes, the faster he can see Johan, or whoever he would be later. Alexis thought hard about it and made a decision.

[I will choose art] chose Alexis.

[Soul transmitting to training room, host you will spend a long time in the training room before returning see you, transmitting completed] Alerted Rain. Alexis was suddenly teleported in a room with a hologram woman standing in the middle, she stood in a room completely filled with drawing instruments and said {Hello, I am the teacher to bring out your inner artist, in here you will master every art skill known to man}. Alexis nodded and started his training.

It took around 30 years to master every literal technique with painting/designing/drawing, whether it traditional or digital, Alexis had to master it, he also had to master ways to create art not known in his original world.

[Welcome back host! I missed you!] exclaimed Rain when he saw his host reappear in the room. Alexis looked at Rain and smiled back at him. [Host! Before entering I will have to remind you that I will be unable to assist you, however, you can use the skills you learned, I must ask host, why did you pick art?] curiously asked Rain.

[Well I think art is a way of therapy, it can make me stop thinking about whatever I would be feeling, I can play the drums so I don't need the instruments skill now, voice control and business would be useless for this test so not that, I used to do judo and traditional swordplay, so I can defend myself. And I have the watch of the chooser, so I don't really need programming, even though it has a limit of 2 worlds, which you totally didn't tell me about, so in conclusion, I am not good at drawing and during the training time I learned how to express all of the built-in emotions in a canvas, be it traditional or not.] thoroughly explained Alexis.

[I didn't expect host would think deeply about it.... Hehe sorry for not telling you host, I forgot. Please don't be mad] said Rain, Alexis chuckled and said [No worries Rain, I am not mad, I expected that you forgot about it]. [Host would you like to start your mission?] Rain asked [Sure, I would like to get this finished with as soon as possible] Alexis shrugged while saying.

[Soul transferring request... accepted..... Body link...... Established........ Soul transmitting........... In 5...4.....3....2..1 Good Luck host!] Rain said [I hope that you don't strain yourself, already many did it, and when they came back..... It was really tragic, this test will drain you host] Rain said. Alexis made sure to keep Rain's words in mind

Alexis soul was sucked inside a place, the place was black, there was no lighting, however, Alexis seemed to be able to see what's in it. It looked like a room, it had a bed and one sofa. The sofa was facing a new source of a what it seemed to be light, he could see a screen, it portrayed faces of nurses holding him, he felt their touch, he heard his cries. And Alexis knew he was a baby right now.

{End of arc 2 part prolgue}