Is it wrong to raid Grandpa's alcohol cabinet?
yeah, yeah, I know, I'm late.
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This story takes place in a world of magic! monsters! Gods! and adventure! In a small village called...actually, I have no fucking idea what it's called, it's just another cliche little village somewhere in the countryside where our MC originates from.
So how about we focus on him? The one and only...Bell Cranell!
"This wine is shit." Who is currently looting his grandfather's alcohol cabinet. And right after his grandpa's funeral nonetheless!
Damn, that's cold.
Despite his vocal distaste for the wine, Bell put it in his bag, followed by every other bottle of alcohol he could see.
"So..." Trying and failing to come up with something to say he let out a sigh and put on his coat before unceremoniously walking out of the door and down the path away from the village he remembers being raised in.
Maybe recalling those memories would cause him to get a little bit sentimental if they were his, to begin with.
3 days. It was exactly 3 days ago when Bell woke up as...not himself? Not entirely. Dave, or David, was the name of the man whose life he knew. The man who he could confidently say was somehow put inside him by a God of some kind after Dave died by a... Truck...
Don't you just love cliches?
The term "Existential crisis" doesn't even begin to describe what Bell felt that morning. Say what you will, but knowing that your entire world originated from a light novel made for entertainment is a reality-breaking revelation. And if that wasn't enough, he also got served with an identity crisis!
On one hand, Bell was glad that his entire persona wasn't erased and replaced by Dave. And on the other hand, he kinda wishes it was.
The memories and life of Bell didn't feel like they belonged to him.
The memories and life of Dave didn't feel like they belonged to him either.
Both lives felt fake.
...
Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, Bell reached inside his Bag of Holding and took out a map.
Hmm? Where did he get a Bag of Holding from?
Bell has a Gacha-based system, obviously! What sort of fanfiction scenario like this one doesn't give the MC a cheat of some kind??
But fine, let me explain it to you.
Bell gets a single Ticket every day that he can use to "spin the wheel" so to speak and gain a random item, or skill from...the multiverse? The celestial forge? I'm not sure myself to be honest.
The items he received already are:
1. {Bag of Holding}
2. {A pet rock (Bob)}
3. {Wooden plank}
As you can see, not all rewards are...useful.
And if you are asking "What did he get today?"
Uhh...
[-|96&|×#¶¶:#&#¶;'-] > [|°××¥√√8`℅9&:"¶]
[Processing...]
[°}£∆×π[}£^√]
Your guess is as good as mine and Bell is...
Taking a glance at the glitching pop-up, Bell let out a sigh and focused on the map. Traveling to Orario would be simple, keep following the road he is currently on, travel through some settlements, and make the occasional turn left or right.
It'll take a month, maybe more to reach the destination on foot, but it's doable.
But why go straight to Orario...?
"There are two types of Skills and Magic's that an adventurer can gain, Bell. Not counting the ones that some races are born with, of course." The memory of Zeus, his grandpa, began. "Those from a God's grace, Falna, which creates skills and magic by actualizing- err...by creating them from the soul of the adventurer! Those come from the deep Ether of a mortal soul and get shaped by their experiences!"
That he knew. Not the it-comes-from-the-soul part, but gaining skills and magic through falna was something obvious for him. Dave watched the anime after all.
"And there are those gained from...destroying a dungeon!" Bell's eyes flicked to the nearest dungeon on the map. Two cities over.
A dungeon that wasn't THE dungeon in Orario.
"A skill gained from destroying a dungeon core usually relates to the dungeon itself. If the dungeon is a flaming hellscape with lava pouring out of the walls then the skill will be something related to fire. Understand?"
An AU...a danmachi AU.
Fourth day ever since merging with Dave, and he still doesn't know how wo feel about it.
For Bell, the existence of multiple dungeons was simply a fact of life, it was not different from stating that the grass is green and the sky is blue.
For Dave, it was a complete game changer and shock of the highest magnitude.
"Maybe." Bell said as he eyed the dungeon location for a moment and folded his map, putting it back into the bag of holding. "Maybe if I get some combat-oriented skill. My experience on how to wield a dagger is still amateurish at best." It was just enough to not worry about dumb creatures like Goblins or Cobolts, whose only plan of attack was to charge forward while screeching at full volume.
[Parasitic influence was successfully removed!]
"Huh?" Turning to the side, Bell noticed that his pop-up up stopped glitching
[Shard #471963 {Redundant biology} is now free of mental effect: "Conflict drive"] > [For the sake of balancing the character "Bell Cranel" the ability {Flight} was removed from Shard #471963]
Bell blinked. Once. Twice.
"Like...from Worm?" With a frown, he tried to recall the webnovel he recognized the power and terminology from.
Redundant biology, if he recalled correctly was a power belonging to "Aegis" a character whose power allowed him to be...hard to kill.
Stab him in the heart, his liver starts pumping blood in its place.
Cut his eyes out, his skin can now detect light bouncing off from the environment and "see" the world around him.
Bones crushed into powder? Muscles will mutate to allow normal movement without the need for bones.
Taking out his dagger, Bell made a small cut on his finger.
Nothing. No pain.
He grasped the blade in one hand and yanked it out with the other. Blood flowed out for a second before it stopped despite the cut being still there.
But there was still no pain.
The novel never made it clear if Aegis inability to feel pain was due to his power, or because of a pre-existing condition, but it seems like the first option was the reason.
"huh..."
...
"Neat."
And with that said, Bell walked forward. I wish there was something else to say, but the walk to the next city was peaceful and boring.
I wonder if the city will be like that too...
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AN: This is the only power from Worm that Bell will receive, all other Worm stuff is reserved for my second fic that will come out in....*checks Callendar* a year...maybe.
Next chap: in a week, I promise to not get distracted again. 🙏