1 The Anarchist Reset

Every time I scanned my cramped apartment, it resembled a chaotic, dimly lit stage set for a boring horror drama. Each day played out like a script of the story: wake up, eat, sleep. The thrill I once craved in life had evaporated like an illusion.

Longing for a life filled with adventures and joy, I reminded myself that we only get one shot at this wild ride. It had been a year since my girlfriend's family rejected me as a man suited for their daughter, and since then, my life had taken a surreal turn.

"Tsk, not again," I grumbled, my frustration adding a touch of dark humor to the scene.

In that peculiar moment, I found myself on my knees, participating in a game of Russian Roulette. My despair had led me to this risky act, a twisted way to escape life without having to confront the final decision of ending it myself.

In a fit of frustration, I aimed my grandfather's antique revolver wildly at a random corner of my room. With a deafening bang, the bullet struck the unsuspecting bookshelf's supporting stand, sending a cascade of books tumbling down upon me like a literary l avalanche. Angrily, I dusted myself off and surveyed the chaos I'd unwittingly unleashed.

Amidst the fallen tomes and scattered debris, my eye caught a particularly ancient, dark, and dusty book, beneath the fallen books. My curiosity, now more piqued than ever, compelled me to investigate further.

Initially, I considered it a mere distraction from my duties, dismissing the old book as a waste of time. But then, as if guided by fate, my eyes widened as they caught my long-lost father's signature etched onto the upper left corner of the book cover and a note stating, ""To my youngest, Zephyr Emberglade" A rush of emotions engulfed me as I read my name.

With newfound curiosity, I turned my attention to the book's title: "Veridora, A New World." Yet, there was no author attributed to this mysterious book; instead, it bore the cryptic mark "Made by Anarchy and Chaos."

As I inched closer to the book, an dark black smoke began to appear from its pages, and the once-faded parchment started to glow with an blinding radiance. Overwhelmed by the supernatural spectacle unfolding before my eyes, I leaped backward, fear and astonishment coursing through my veins. This was no ordinary book, and I couldn't help but wonder what secrets lay within its pages.

Summoning every ounce of courage, I rose to my feet and observed the bizarre scene for a few more minutes. With trembling hands, I mustered the strength to pick up the enigmatic book from the floor, gazing at its cover, a pair of crimson eyes materialized before me, seeming to peer into the depths of my soul, while the ominous black smoke enveloped my entire being. Panic coursed through me as I struggled to release my grip on the book, but an otherworldly force held me captive.

The pages of the book began to turn of their own accord, one by one, as the shadows closed in around me until all I could see was an inky abyss. Suddenly, a blinding radiance erupted from every page, banishing the darkness. Letters sprung forth from the book's depths, swirling around me at incredible speed.

Exhausted and overwhelmed, I fought to retain consciousness, but my strength waned, and I succumbed to the overwhelming surge of events, slipping into unconsciousness, my memory fading into obscurity with each passing moment. What lay beyond that fateful encounter remained a haunting mystery.

As I lay in the grip of unconsciousness and fear, I marveled at the fact that my mind remained active. Memories of the year flashed before me, regrets about how I could have mended my relationship with Thalia, earned her parents' trust, and secured a future together filled my thoughts. It was a bitter pill to swallow in the midst of this surreal darkness.

My unconscious mind then switched its focus with the complicated turn of events unfolding around me. I attempted to find a logical explanation, but my efforts were in vain. The only semi-logical notion that I can think of was that I had died during the twisted game of Russian Roulette, and everything beyond was a imagination of my afterlife.

In a moment of joke, I said to myself in my concious mind, "Who would've thought that the afterlife would be this boring?"

"Is that so, Zyphyr?" A divine voice and formidable aura emerged out of nowhere.

I looked around, now confused about what is going on. I wondered to myself that even in the afterlife, you can still go insane because of loneliness and boredom. I shouted several times to at least try and look for signs that I'm not actually going crazy.

A white circular sphere then suddenly appeared and floated, spinning around me. It was illuminating a white aura and resembled an orb. My eyes locked onto it as it circled around me and occasionally pass through me.

I broke the silence and asked, "Are you perhaps real, or this is the creation of my mind playing tricks on me?"

"Indeed, I'm real. I'm actually your guide to what awaits all of you. I'm just one of a billion orbs, and your kind is talking to the others just like me," the orb replied as it pauses right in front of my puzzled face

I was confused about what the guide was talking about. I asked for a much more detailed explanation. What the orb told me shocked my whole identity. I was not able to take all the information at once since it feels like carrying a heavy burder within me.

The guide explained calmly that I'm not the only one who is surrounded by darkness right at this very moment. Not just a handful of my kind, but the entirety of the human race is now in their separate abyssal box, engaging conversation with the same kind of orb that I'm taking to right now.

He continued the explanation by filling me in on the contents of the Book and why everything is happening as I touched it. The orb mentioned the phenomenon "The World Reset" It was a book that was written by two among the ten gods of the underworld.

The underworld is a place where the all-knowing or the Omniscient banish the gods that defy him. It is a realm without escape where two underworld gods, Zent, the god of anarchy, and Lozorean, the god of chaos, were exiled. Thousands of years ago, they wrote a novel that was supposedly distributed among the demon race that lives within the realm of the underworld.

However, Zent had other plans for the book. He had made a curse ritual that whoever dares to touch it that is not a part of the demon race will reset the world they are living in and will weaken the seal of the underworld. The world that have been reset would be the place where the portal of escape will be slowly created. In the downside, Zent would be put on temporary rest for a thousand years to recover the immense power he used to make the curse possible.

The Omniscient knew what Zent was scheming and decided to wage another war to the underworld in order to retrieve the dangerous book that Zent created. They emerged victorious but lost the book during the Omni-devilion war. It was lost until it emerged on the human world, replacing a bedtime storybook with a cursed novel on the bookshelf of an apartment.

Not long after it appeared, a curious me picked it up, causing the curse to be unleashed throughout humanity. The darkness I'm floating in right now is only a temporary space for all human beings to stay. It was a way for the Omniscient to save humanity after being informed that the book was found on Earth. We will be staying in this dark abyssal box while the planet Earth undergoes drastic changes. In this abyssal waiting space, we have been given a chance to personalize our profile, change our names, our appearance, and also select a starter ability.

After this, the orb also said that we will descend to a new world. A world created by Zent for where the portal of the underworld will manifest and emerge. The Omniscient made it clear that he won't be able to change the present, and we have to live by it. If he casts a divine intervention and stops the event that will unfold, he will be punished by the supreme being or the ruler of everything.

The orb also said that while the Omniscient have defeated the demons and some gods of the underworld, it has already been thousands of years since that happened, and demons will have their numbers back by now and created replacements for the gods they have lost during the war. The only thing that the supreme being allowed the Omniscient to do is allow him to share a portion of his power with humanity to give them a chance of survival until the day on which the portal emerges arrives.

The said world was called Veridora or "The Replacement of Earth" where Chaos and disorder rule the mysterious realm. The people in Veridora are now called "Anarchist," and they can resonate with the elements of the previous world, Earth, ( started abilities ) and cultivate that ability as their own. There are special occasions where the Omniscient will favor some individuals and give them special abilities as a gift from interest. Once they step foot on the land of Veridora, they will find a changed world full of monsters, challenging bosses, dungeons, and a system that displays their profiles and stats as a way to track their progress.

"For now, that's the only thing I want to inform you of," said the orb as it floated around again.

I grinned and replied, "I'm gaining this opportunity of freedom? For free?"

"Haha, it won't be an easy freedom," the orb muttered. "Now it's time for you to edit your profile."

A system then appeared right in front me.

[ Eyebrows ]

[ Eye Color ]

[ Nose shape ]

[ Hairstyles ]

[ Face Shape ]

[ Body Shape ]

[ Skip ]

A system appeared before me, offering a list of options to alter various aspects of my appearance, from eyebrows to eyes, nose, and more. However, I hastily bypassed these cosmetic choices, my focus fixed firmly on the intriguing array of abilities awaiting my selection.

It was a shocking sight that the abilities are in card form and were backwards. So it means that I wouldn't be able to know what ability I would get. As for the instructions, I could only choose one card, and what I chose would be my starting card or ability, I will be able to make it more stronger and awaken it.

I chose the middle one without hesitation. A flash of bright light appeared on my vision and showed me the ability I got, [ Lightning Manipulation x Sword Art ] It was a surprisingly good combination of abilities. I'm a fan of having lightning abilities when I was on Earth, to the point that I'm actually wishing to the Gods about making me special and recieve those powers.

"What an interesting choice," the guide orb said as he popped out of nowhere.

This time, the orb said that some people may possess special abilities as a personal interest and a gift from the Omniscient himself. I was also one of those special beings said the guide. I was the one who touched the book in the first place. I will be able to find out my special ability along my journey once I encounter something so menacing thay it'll cause me to be awakened.

The guide also whispered a restricted information that there will be additional abilities that are contained in items such as an artifact. This will be collected through the most dangerous dungeons and special places within the lands of Veridora. It's up to us to conquer and find these artifacts that were thrown away by the Omniscient after the bloody Omni-Devilion war. It was also a way for us to get stronger so we should consider it as a gift from the Omniscient

"This is all I leave you with. Now, this will be my farewell, young man," the orb disappeared as he left a final message.

The darkness of the abyss started to tear down, it reveals a radiant of bright light. It marked the dawn of a new adventure that my whole life was looking for. An adventure full of excitement, I was not able to stop thinking that once a dream is now turning to a reality. A new chapter of life, the beginning of the Anarchy Odyssey.