1 His Past
"Breaking News…"
"Today at approximately 7:35am, billionaire, playboy Yu Takaki was found dead in his home…"
"…Police reports say the cause of death was a heart attack…"
"…Social media has been taken by storm. With many people around the world taking to online forums to celebrate…"
"…Former 'Takaki International' CEO and father of the deceased, Sugo Takaki, had this to say during a press interview…"
"…Many viewed my son as a womanizer, and a devil in human skin…all I have to say is that they did not know my son. He was…"
*Click*
"Hmm?"
Opening his eyes, the first thing Yu saw was a large blue and white sphere.
Yu: "Wait?"
Realization dawned upon him…what he previous thought of as nothing but a sphere, was actually a planet…Earth to be exact.
Yu: "This?? How??"
Taking a deep breath, it wasn't long before Yu forcefully calmed down his rising emotions.
A skill he had picked up due to his years of experience as part of the business world as well as from gaming.
Yu enjoyed playing the game 'Elder Tale' and had been playing it since its release. Yet he had trouble making friends, both inside, and outside of the game.
The game had just launched its new expansion 'Novasphere Pioneers', and he had just been planning to log into the game when his vision darkened and his life flashed before his eyes in a 'vision' of sorts.
The reason Yu had trouble making friends, was largely due to his past.
Many people viewed him as a womanizing pervert, which in a way was true, yet Yu was actually still a virgin.
The reason people viewed him that way was due to his family situation.
He was born into a multi-billion dollar company. His father was the CEO of the company, and he had been selected as the heir of the company over his less adequate older brother. Although he hated the business world, he knew nothing else. So when his father stepped down he took over. For a while everything was going fine, yet the Takaki family had many enemies.
During one of his outings, he was kidnaped and rendered unconscious. The next time he awoke, he found himself in a bed with a naked women, who had been tied up.
Due to the shock and confusion he had over the entire situation, he was slow to react and the door had suddenly been kicked down by police. He was charged for the r**e and kidnapping of a minor. Although he had done no such thing, the police apparently found his DNA inside of the girl which lead to him being arrested.
Since that day the second son of the Takaki family was viewed in a negative light In the public eye tarnishing the reputation of the Takaki family.
Although his father believed him and posted bail, the rest of the world didn't, forcing Yu into a shut in life. Once he began his life away from the chaotic business world, he realized he no longer had any responsibilities or expectations placed upon him. From birth he had always had an anti-social nature. Often being forced to stay inside and study during the day, and taking to played games after he had finished with his work in order to ease his mind.
This nature of his was only enhanced after he found himself with nothing to do. However things weren't as smooth sailing as he previously believed. Although his reputation in the public's eye was horrendous, he didn't care too much as he found enjoyment in his new life style. What causing him anguish was when he found out the truth of the matter surrounding his 'accident'.
The one who had really r**ed that girl turned out to be his older brother.
Since young, Yu had always view his older brother as a scumbag. He often threw his families status around and would force himself onto women. His father though, always did his best to cover the incidents up which lead to his reputation still holding a positive light, yet due to his deviant personality his father had deemed him unfit to take over the company, handing the right over to Yu who was always calm and rational. Yu was a perfect heir in their fathers eyes. This caused discord between the brothers and the tension had only risen after Yu took over as CEO.
So when Yu had gone out alone in order to get a break from the stress of running a company that night of the 'incident', his brother had seen an opportunity to get his revenge. Hiring professional criminals to set his own brother up in a crime.
They kidnaped Yu as well as a young girl before drugging both of them. After they had been drugged and brought to the hotel, his brother did horrendous things to the poor girl while the criminals wiped the security cameras before fixing the scene to make it look as if Yu had done it. After the deed was done, they left the hotel and calling the police and media from an untraceable cell phone.
All of the blame had been pushed onto Yu thanks to the actions of his dear brother.
The public viewed Yu as a monster and to make matters worse, his own brother had 'confessed' that it wasn't Yu's first time doing something like this. Although it was a blatant lie, all of the evidence pointed at Yu and thanks to the efforts of his father during his older brothers case as well as the fact that none of the girls came forward, his brothers reputation was still credible. Whether the reason behind the girls not coming forward was due to their fear of the Takaki family or not, no one would know.
His reputation plummeted lower and lower as time went on and Yu's mentality suffered having found out the truth. He starting paying more attention to what the rest of the world was saying about him. The media blew things up even more by causing speculation about possible other crimes Yu had committed behind the scenes. With Yu now seeing all the horrible things everyone was saying, he was no longer able to show his face in public becoming a loner, antisocial, asshole who pushed everyone away. Deep inside however, due to all of the hate directed towards him, Yu changed.
From a previously innocent, serious and driven boy, Yu's personality took on a dark undertone. He began to believe that he was actually the person everyone made him out to be, and had devious thoughts about women in his mind. Although deep down he knew he wasn't that type of person, he couldn't help himself when it seemed like the entire world was against him. Thankfully to society, Yu developed a trauma of going outside, otherwise rather then a heart attack, Yu would have gone down with many other people in a horrific event.
Thus bringing him to his current situation. Having just been playing the game, Yu's vision darkened and the next thing he knew, he was overlooking the planet in an act that defied the laws of physics.
???: "Hello, troubled child."
Yu's eyes widened slightly, yet due to his heart and mind already being in a tranquil like state, he was able to prevent his emotions from taking over and just calmly looked towards to similarly 'flouting' being nearby.
???: "I'm sure you have many questions…I shall explain it all to you."
The situation leading up to this point had already replayed themselves in his mind caused Yu to quickly attempt to understand things on his own. This in turn caused him to remembering similar 'events' in some novels he enjoyed…
'Reincarnation?' he thought to himself.
As if answering him, the mysterious being smiled before he begun his explanation.
???: "Correct, you have been chosen to be reincarnated. To explain the situation to you, due to an accident caused by the gods, one of the worlds we had been tasked with watching over, is on the brink of destruction. In order to right this wrong, the other gods have decided to send hundreds of thousands of players worldwide into this world in order to save it. The world is one you know quite well for it is the world which the game known as 'Elder Tale'…is based on."
Yu: "…"
'Given the context of the information, and the present situation, its safe to assume this entity in front of me is one of those very gods. Whether he had a cause in the 'error' is irrelevant…he is right about one thing…I do know the game Elder Tale quite well.'
???: "Yu Takaki, otherwise known as, 'Raidon Arakan'. Arguably one of the strongest players within Elder Tales, rumored to have completed several high-end raids…alone. You are a loner due to your past, yet you were given the titles 'Lone Sword', 'The Strongest' and 'Unkillable Blade' by the other players. I need someone of your caliber in order to right past wrongs. I am requesting that you head into the new world of Elder Tale, and save as many people as you can.
The gods are unable to directly help them out due to restrictions placed upon us. Yet the other gods still chose to send people, ignorant of the issue, to correct their errors. They desire to use quantity, well I felt that it was better if we used quality. The rest didn't hold the same beliefs as I and alone I am only capable of sending one person.
You do not necessarily need to bring them out of the world, just make it so as many people as possible are able to survive. To do this, you will need to combat the being which will bring about the planets end. I know it is not right to put you into this situation and I am prepared to compensate you for your troubles."
Thinking over it for a minute, Yu believed that it honestly wasn't a bad idea. There was nothing left for him back home, although his father was kind to him, he was in the end a business man, albeit retired, still a business man none the less. In the end the most important thing to him was the Takaki corporation and with his brother stepping in as the new CEO around the time of his death, even if he went back there would be no place for him.
His only escape in life had been inside of Elder Tale and with the chance to quite literally go there in front of his eyes, there was no way Yu would miss this opportunity. That being the case, he wasn't too happy over the fact that this so called 'god' had killed him before asking for his opinion so it was only right to receive compensation.
Yu: "What kind of compensation will you give me? Seeing as how you are able to view my thoughts, I'm sure you are already aware of my opinion on the matter."
Smirking ever so slightly, the mysterious being spoke once more.
???: "You will be given five wishes of your choosing, some perks once you enter the world, as well as an enhanced status menu."
Hearing the being give a straight forward answer rather then beat around the bush, Yu was surprised slightly. However, his surprise didn't last long as he began to seriously consider his options.
'Five wishes huh…I wont be in a game anymore, everything will be real life thus I must plan for the long run.'
Yu thought over his wishes for a very long time as he didn't want to make any errors.
Finally after what seemed like forever, Yu began stating his requests.
Yu: "My first wish: Exp/Drop rate boost."
Pausing slightly, Yu awaited the beings response.
???: "Hmm, although those two things can easily be done, think it over. You must know that the 'wishes' are given a value. If one wish was given a value of 100/100 then you asking for EXP AND a Drop rate boost would cause the value to be 50/100 EXP boost and 50/100 Drop rate boost. Meaning you wouldn't get the maximum boost you could be getting if they were split between two 'wishes'."
Hearing that, Yu thought about it for a second. 'Basically, if I make my first wish an EXP boost while my second wish a Drop rate boost, then I would be getting nearly 50% more from each…they are both too important to pass up on.'
The reason Yu felt that an EXP boost and Drop rate boost were worth two wishes was that he believed the most important things were personal strength. In a video game, or more specifically an MMORPG, your level and resources in your possession were the things which mattered most.
He had also figured that he would have been able to wish to be Max level, however, he knew that may not be the best option. He didn't have enough information yet, but he figured that since other players had supposable also been sent there, if they saw he was Max level right off the start they may view him as an anomaly. This in turn could cause many things, all of which he didn't want to deal with.
Yu: "Fine, have my first wish be an EXP boost, while my second wish is a boost in my drop rates. There should be a shop function in this enhanced status menu correct?"
Nodding slightly to both his wish and question, the being awaited his next words.
Yu: "Mine as well make my third wish be as much currency I can obtain from the wish. Have it be divided as 30% game currency and 70% shop currency if they run on separate currencies. If not just make it 100%."
After giving his confirmation on the wish, the being thought to himself. 'Hmm, although that wish seems useless, its actually well thought out, call me impressed.'
Yu felt that having secured a way to increase his personal strength as well as obtain resources faster, the next most important thing would be to make sure he possesses enough starting funds off the bat in the event that he requires a lot of gold for something. He also knew that in most cases the Shop function for these System's contained strong items and rare materials that in some cases may even be worth a wish. Not knowing a method to obtain the currency used in the shop or the items it may possess, Yu figured it would be a smart investment.
Yu: "For my fourth wish, I desire the ability to be able to customize my 'character' freely. As well as being able to equip multiple main-classes and sub-classes simultaneously."
???: "This one is slightly tricky…if you were allowed to equip an unlimited amount of classes it would throw off the world even more then it already is. If I placed restrictions on the amount you can equip then it would work. The maximum I could do would be three main-classes and five sub-classes. If you got rid of the 'freely' part of customizing your character, I could add one more to each class amount." *(AN-1)*
Yu: "No, three and five is fine. Being able to change my race and character appearance into anything at the start is too important to give up."
Once again Yu didn't know what the shop would contain. If he was able to purchase bloodlines or ancient races then this wish may prove to be useless. Yet if he wasn't able to, then obtaining a powerful race and bloodline would only further increase his personal strength.
???: "Mmm, however, you must note that although you may make minor changes whenever, you will only be able to do a complete overhaul of your character when you first enter the game. We used your old character, the Samurai class one, as a base line."
Yu: "That's fine. As for my fifth wish I want to be able to create and modify my own skills."
'Hmmm? Interesting…His wishes all tie in with one another. He must know that the amount of skills he will obtain from equipping three classes on top of skills purchased through the shop will be difficult to keep track of so he plans to combine overlapping skills. He must be thinking that by for example combining two movements skills together, a stronger version will be created…to think over so much in such a short time span…he deserves his titles.'
???: "It's possible if I incorporate it into your status menu. You will need to train and learn the skill on your own, afterwards the status screen will rate it with the lowest being Rank F, followed by Rank E…Rank S, Rank SS, Rank SSS…and lastly X *(AN-2.Full Skill Rank List)*. The skill may turn out differently from how you expect it to once the status screen reads it, however, as the ability to 'create skills' is already within that world, you will be given some bonuses to bring it up to be worthy of a wish."
Yu: "Yes I'm fine with those."
???: "Alright, one last thing before you set off."
The being said suddenly before pointing his finger at Yu's forehead.
At first Yu was confused, but it didn't take him long to fine out the reason the being had done so as suddenly, memories that didn't belong to him flooded his mind. Scenes of what appeared to be a more realistic version of Elder Tale as well as events that happened after something known as 'The Apocalypse". In an instant, years of images flashed past, ingraining themselves into his memory, before suddenly stopping.
Yu: "Ugh…Was that…the future? Then am I even needed?"
???: "You can call it that. It is what would happen if you didn't enter the world. Although on the outside the overall damage looks mild, there are serious undercurrents at work and many unnecessary lives were lost due to us not being able to directly interfere. The reason I have shown you this is that we are hoping that you show us a better outcome. Know that the memories will be a great boon to you, however, from the moment you step foot onto that world, the future had already been changed causing the course of events to shift so don't rely to much on them.
Aside from that, you may do whatever you wish. We have given those sent to the world free reign when it comes to the decisions you all make. Even if you kill everyone in the world, we will not intervene until the end. Should the world be 'destroyed' the cycle will just repeat itself, and we will choose another method to save the world. Good luck on your adventures in the world of Elder Tale, young one."
Yu: "Wha…?!"
Suddenly Yu's vision was cut off as he was once more embraced by the darkness.
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Authors Note: (The program I use to write doesn't let me use footnotes or anything like that so rather then explain things in the middle of chapters, I will instead write (AN-#) which will corelate to the author's note section at the end of each chapter. These sections will be to help out readers who may not know much about the source material. If things confuse you, let me know in the comments and I will try to address them.)
(AN-1): When players create a character in the game Elder Tale(s), they must select from one of twelve «Main Classes», along with the player's «Race». Later on they may pick (one) «Subclass», the decision they make for all three will effect what «Skills» they can obtain.
Four Class Groups: Twelve Main Classes
{Warrior}: «Guardian» / «Samurai» / «Monk» /
{Healer}: «Cleric» / «Druid» / «Kannagi» /
{Weapon-based} (DPS): «Assassin» / «Swashbuckler» / «Bard» /
{Mage} (DPS): «Sorcerer» / «Summoner» / «Enchanter» /
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(AN-2): 'Skill Rank List'- Skill ranks are divided by their scale as it considers magic or abilities from a phenomenological perspective or in conjunction with its intended objective.
Lowest -> Highest
Rank: F - [No-class]: Basic skills which may have use in ever day life. (Ex. Lighting a fire, Chopping wood, Cutting food. Non-combat Subclass fall under this category such as [Woodcrafter] or [Chef]. Although skills may increase in proficiency they will not go up in rank due to their nature.)
Rank: E - [Action-class]: Magic or an ability capable of replicating a single action. (Ex. Basic attacks in a game. They will be represented by basic weapon proficiency or basic spells. [Sword Mastery], [Fireball]. Combat Subclasses fall under this category such as a [Knight] subclasses [Horse Riding] skill. Although [Horse Riding] is a Rank F skill, due to the [Knight]'s version of the skill being primarily for use during combat it is Rank E. Note Rank E skills and higher may go up in rank depending on proficiency.)
Rank: D - [Combat-class]: Magic or an ability capable of altering the course of a single battle. (Ex. A magic spell or ability capable of deciding the fate of a platoon of enemies or allies. Small sized AOE spells or weapon abilities.)
Rank: C - [Operation-class]: Magic or an ability capable or deciding two or three battles at a time. (Ex. Mid sized AOE spells or abilities.) {Note: The strongest spells players could use in the game 'Elder Tale' were of this rank.}
Rank: B - [Tactical-class]: Magic or an ability capable of effecting a large area. (Ex. Conquering an enemy castle with a single hit. Destroying a Dungeon. Large scale AOE spells or abilities.)
Rank: A - [Strategic-class]: Magic or an ability that is capable of deciding the outcome of a war.
Rank: S - [National-class]: Magic or an ability that is capable of deciding the fate of an entire nation.
Rank: SS - [Continent-class]: Magic or an ability that is capable of deciding the fate of an entire continent.
Rank: SSS - [World-class]: Magic or an ability that is capable of deciding the laws, the fate, or the very existence of an entire world.
Rank: X - [God-class]: …Unknown…
For Equipment:
Ranks F = Common
Rank E = Uncommon
Ranks D -> C = Rare
Ranks B -> A = Epic
Ranks S -> SS = Legendary
Rank SSS = World-class
Rank X = God-class
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