Journey Through Fiction

Death.

It is the inevitable end of every living thing. Sometimes it's natural and other times it's not. But there is one thing a lot of people want to know.

After death...what next?

It's a mystery that remains unsolved. Some people fear death while others embrace it. A lot of people die early due to circumstances. Some leave a lot of loved ones behind and the others have nothing left to lose.

-[?]-

There was darkness everywhere. Nothing could be seen in this empty void except one thing.

A small ball of light. The ball, although small, radiated enough light to illuminate a few meters radius.

'Where am I?' A young voice came out from the glowing ball.

'I can't feel my body. What the hell is this?' Confusion and curiosity radiated out of the glowing orb but strangely there was no hint of fear.

[Welcome Host]

'What the hell?'

[You have been chosen as the Gamer]

[Perk Gained]

[Gamers Mind]

Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.

Grants Immunity to psychological status effects.

[Perk Gained]

[Gamers Body]

Grants a body that allows for the user to live real life like a game.

[Skill Gained]

[ID Create]

Creates an Instant Dungeon

Can only be used 1 hour per day

Dungeons available

[Zombies]

[Skill Gained]

[ID Escape]

Destroys an Instant Dungeon

[Skill Gained]

[Observe]

Gain a bit of information about the target.

'I recognize this. Isn't this from a manhwa I read some time ago?' The orb wondered as it 'looked through' the notifications.

'I guess it also explains why I'm so calm. There are only two explanations to this. I'm either dead or I'm hallucinating.' The orb pondered for a moment before deciding to see it through.

What was the harm in continuing?

If it wasn't real and then he'd wake up like nothing happened. No harm there.

A few moments later, another screen popped up.

[Class Function Unavailable]

[Compensation has been added]

[Select Three Mastery Skills]

[Melee]

Sword Mastery

Dagger Mastery

Martial Art Mastery

Axe Mastery

Spear Mastery

…

<<Random>>

[Ranged]

Bow Mastery

Gun Mastery

Crossbow Mastery

<<Random>>

[Magic]

Fire Mastery

Wind Mastery

Water Mastery

Earth Mastery

Lightning Mastery(Locked)

…

<<Random>>

[Armor]

Light-Armor Mastery

Medium-Armor Mastery

Heavy-Armor Mastery

Shield Mastery

<<Random>>

[Production]

Engineer

Blacksmith

Enchanter

Alchemist

Artificer

…

<<Random>>

If he could let out a whistle, he would have done so at that moment. 'That's a long list.' He thought while going through it.

'This is kind of a tight choice. All of these and I can only pick three. There's no telling if I'll be able to pick the other options later' Thankfully, he didn't need to physically touch the screen to navigate it or else he'd be stuck staring at it forever.

For his first choice, he chose [Sword Mastery]. There wasn't any overcomplicated reason to his decision there. He skipped over the section for ranged weapons, moving straight to magic.

He would be lying if he said he knew which one to pick. Other than the five shown, there were other elements available like [Lava Mastery], [Sand Mastery] and [Ice Mastery] to name a few. Unfortunately, they were locked similarly to [Lightning Mastery].

He eyed the <<Random>> button that was at the bottom of the section. 'There's a chance that choosing this will select one of the locked elements but there's also a chance that it won't and I would have wasted my choice and gotten a less useful element.'

Thinking about it, there wasn't any particularly useless element. It was all dependent on the situation and circumstances. Different elements are advantageous and disadvantageous in certain situations, even the more powerful elements weren't excluded from this.

'Random it is.' The orb thought, selecting that option.

[Skill Gained]

[Ice Magic Mastery](Lvl 1/100)

You have some skill in ice magic

Increase Ice damage by 1%

'That's good. That's…actually good.' The orb thought as it scrolled to the next section. It only took one look for it to skip the armor section.

'There's no way I'm giving up a powerful production skill for some armor.' He thought as he chose the one that appealed to him the most.

[Skill Gained]

[Alchemy](Lvl 1/100)

You have Legendary skill in Alchemy

Increases potion effectiveness by 1%

Who didn't want to be able to make magic potions?

The previous screens immediately disappeared as another one took place in front of the orb.

[Welcome to the Game]

[Your world has been pre-chosen]

[Transferring in 5…]

[4]

[3]

[2]

[1]

With that, everything went black, the little awareness he had, fading away into a state of unconsciousness.

-[?]-

His eyes snapped open in shock. Taking a quick look around, he found that he was seated on the cold stone floor.

'This is.. an alley?' He thought as he took in his environment. He immediately noticed one glaring factor, that being the fact that he was dressed in rags.

'What the hell is this? I don't even have shoes!' He complained internally as he attempted to stand on his feet only to be assaulted by a barrage of memories, causing him to stumble back to the ground.

It only took a minute for it to end.

'You're joking, right?' He thought in disbelief as he shot to his feet. He trudged his way out of the alley, emerging from the dark alley onto a busy street filled with wandering people.

The looks he got weren't what got his attention. It was the ridiculously large wall that stood in the distance, spreading for as far as he could see.

'What kind of joke is this?' He thought as he recognized it from his own memories and from the new batch of memories.

'Of all the places to end up in, why am I in AOT?' He thought in disbelief.

The more he thought about it, the more real it felt. If it was a dream, he should have woken up by now, thoroughly crashing his hopes of waking up back in his room.

He carefully moved back into the alley. It was devoid of people and attention so he would have a chance to gather his thoughts.

'What to do…' he thought, sitting back on the floor he sat on previously, he shook his head. 'I remember the plot of the show but my knowledge of the timeframe is shoddy at best. According to this body's memories, Wall Maria was broken around five years ago.'

His eyes widened in realization. 'That means that Bertholdt will soon appear to break the Trost gate. The question is; how soon is it going to happen?'

He sighed at the ironic fact that despite having an advantage in knowing what was going to happen, it was almost useless if he didn't know the exact dates.

'Would I even survive that?' He thought. 'Would I be able to survive if they break the gate? I can't hide in a dungeon and I have no idea how to use those gears. Revealing magic is completely off the table unless I have no other options.'

Pushing those thoughts at the back of his mind for the moment, he decided to focus on the present.

He couldn't decide if he was lucky or not that he transmigrated into this specific body. Parents were lost during the first breach, leaving him on his own for the five years leading to this point.

He was a street rat who wouldn't be missed if he went missing.

'Status.' He thought, a screen appearing in front of him.

Name - Liam Ross

Level - 3

Race - Human

Hp - 500 [20 per minute]

Mp- 1250 [42 per 30 seconds]

Str - 10

Vit - 10

Dex - 10

Int - 25

Wis- 21

Cha - 20

Points - 10

MP Regen = WIS X 2

MP = INT X 50

Health = Vit X 50

HP Regen = Vit X 2

'Liam Ross?' That threw away the hope of being of important lineage. 'Are Int and Wis higher because isn't my mental ability crossed over with me unlike my physical body?' He theorized, looking at the two stats as well as the15 points he had.

From the moment he woke up, he had a brief understanding of how each stat worked. Str dealt with physical power while Dex dealt with accuracy and speed. Int determined the overall ability to think as well as learning speed and memory and information retention.

Vit determined his overall health, regenerative ability and resistance to special types of damage.

Wis mostly determined perception and thinking, though it affected the latter to a lower degree than Int. Cha was a surprising mix of physical attractiveness, persuasiveness and personal magnetism.

All in all, he determined that each stat was useful in their own way. Though he wasn't going to spend them yet, he already arranged them in the order of importance. 'Skills.' He called internally.

[Skills:]

[Thievery Mastery](Lvl 34/100)

You have some skill in snatching and grabbing things including being able to plant things on people.

[Sword Mastery](Lvl 1/100)

You have some skill in using a sword

Increases sword damage by 1%

[Ice Magic Mastery](Lvl 1/100)

You have some skill in ice magic

Increase Ice damage by 1%

[Alchemy](Lvl 1/100)

You have Legendary skill in Alchemy

Increases potion effectiveness by 1%

[ID Create]

Creates an Instant Dungeon

Can only be used 1 hour per day

Dungeons available

[Zombies]

[ID Escape]

Destroys an Instant Dungeon

[Observe]

Gain a bit of information about the target.

It was exactly how he expected it to look, though the decently high level of [Thievery Mastery] surprised him a bit. Memories of pickpocketing random people flashed in his mind.

Below the [Skills] tab, there was one more section that he hadn't explored. 'Perks.'

[Perks:]

[Gamers Mind]

Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.

Grants Immunity to psychological status effects.

[Gamers Body]

Grants a body that allows for the user to live real life like a game.

[Impaired Vision]

Your vision becomes blurry beyond 20ft.

Automatic failure at 100ft.

'The hell is with that last one? Isn't [Gamers Body] supposed to take care of that?' he thought in confusion, though it explained the blur in his vision when he previously looked towards the walls. 'Don't tell me I need glasses…'

He spent the next few moments going through the system, the only other thing of importance he found being the inventory which was empty.

[*Ding!*]

[Mission Complete]

[Mission Objective: Figure out the basics of your ability](Complete)

[Bonus Objective: Figure out where you are in three minutes](Complete)

[Reward: +1 to all stats]

[Bonus Reward: ODM Mastery]

'So there's a quest aspect as well.' He thought as he pulled up the new skill.

[ODM Piloting] (1/50)

You have some skill in using an ODM gear.

Reduces gas usage by 1%

Increases aerial movement speed by 1%

'I can't even begin to list the problems with this skill, the first being my obvious lack of equipment.' He lamented.

There was also the fact that use of ODM gear wasn't allowed inside the walls so it was basically useless for now.

' Enough moping around. It's time to get to work.' He thought, looking around for a moment.

'[ID Create].' He thought, using the skill after confirming that there was still nobody around.

His surroundings immediately changed as he found himself in what appeared to be a desert. The only thing that made it less normal was the unusual red sky above him.

[Time is temporarily halted when the Host is in the dungeon!]

[59:58]

He let out a breath of relief as he read the first notification only to frown at the second one. He was acutely aware of the fact that he had limited time in the dungeon so he had to make the best use of his time.

Looking around, he sighted a few zombies in different locations around him, the closest oen being a few meters away from him but yet unnoticed of his presence.

'This skill didn't come with preset moves so it's up to me to create them.' He thought as he tugged on his mana, using [Ice Magic Mastery] for the first time.

A layer of frost appeared on his palm before emerging and carefully forming a weapon of ice in his hand.

[Skill Gained]

[Ice Sword](Lvl 1/10)

Creates a sword of ice

Cost: 50 MP

He couldn't stop the boyish grin that spread on his face as he held the ice construct. 'Magic is sweet.' He thought as he carefully moved forward, attempting to ambush the clueless zombie.

[Skill Gained]

[Stealth](Lvl 1/100)

You have some skill in moving cautiously and surreptitiously. The user can move around without leaving any trace.

He mentally dismissed the skill as soon as it appeared, silently making his way until he was behind the zombie.

Raising the ice sword, he gathered as much strength as he could, swinging at its neck, digging into it with a single swing.

It wasn't enough to kill it as the zombie tried to turn around. Liam quickly pulled out the sword, swinging the weapon once again at its neck, this time with success as its head went flying off its neck.

[You have killed a Zombie!]

[You have leveled up!]

[Sword Mastery has leveled up!]

[Ice Magic Mastery has leveled up!]

[Stealth has leveled up!]

He smiled victoriously at the notification only to freeze as he heard the groaning of zombies. Looking around, he found that his 'skirmish' with the now dead zombie attracted the attention of the others.

From the way they now headed towards him, their intent and target was clear; him.

With a grim smile, he took a step back before freezing. 'What am I doing? I don't have time to waste in killing these things and getting stronger.'

Getting an idea, he stood his ground, not moving despite the incoming undead. Taking a deep breath, he used [Ice Magic Mastery] once again, this time channeling it through his feet.

A layer of frost shot from his feet, the ground around him freezing, ice spreading along the surface in front of him. He watched in delight as the ground froze along with the feet of the now immobilized zombies.

[Skill Gained]

[Freeze](Lvl 1/10)

Freezes anything in contact with the limb it is activated through.

Cost: Varies

With his opponents now frozen and unable to move, he quickly went towards them, hacking at their necks with his ice sword. It only took two swings each to behead them.

[You have killed a Zombie!]

[You have killed a Zombie!]

[You have killed a Zombie!]

[You have leveled up!]

[Sword Mastery has…

Ignoring it, his eyes went to the timer in the corner of his eyes which now showed him that he had 58 minutes left.

[*Ding!*]

[Mission Added]

[Mission Objective: Kill 10 Zombies]

[Bonus Objective: Kill 30 Zombies]

[Bonus Objective: Kill 50 Zombies]

[Bonus Objective: Kill 100 Zombies]

[Bonus Objective: Kill 1000 Zombies]

[Reward: EXP]

[Bonus Reward: Minor Health Potion x2]

[Bonus Reward: EXP card x3]

[Bonus Reward: EXP card x 5, Gacha Token]

[Bonus Reward: EXP card x 15, Legendary Gacha Token]

He smirked as he quickly skimmed through it. 'Let the hunt begin.' He thought with a predatory grin.

-[An Hour Later]-

Over the course of the next hour, he repeated the same tactic over and over. Freezing their feet to the ground and killing them while they were stuck in place.

At some point, he had run out of mana. With the limited time he had, there was no time to sit and wait for his mana to regenerate…not that the zombies would give him the chance.

In the end, he was only able to partially complete the mission by the time the dungeon spat him out. Thankfully, he appeared back in the same spot he was when he entered.

[Mission Completed]

[Mission Objective: Kill 10 Zombies](Complete)

[Bonus Objective: Kill 30 Zombies](Complete)

[Bonus Objective: Kill 50 Zombies](Complete)

[Bonus Objective: Kill 100 Zombies](Complete)

[Bonus Objective: Kill 1000 Zombies](Failed)

[Reward: EXP]

[Bonus Reward: Minor Health Potion x2]

[Bonus Reward: EXP card x3]

[Bonus Reward: EXP card x 5, Gacha Token]

[Bonus Reward: EXP card x 15, Legendary Gacha Token]

[You have leveled up!]

'How do you expect me to kill 1000 zombies in one hour?' He lamented as he pulled up his stats.

Name - Liam Ross

Level - 16

Race - Human

Hp - 550 [22 per minute]

Mp- 1300 [44 per 30 seconds]

Str - 13

Vit - 11

Dex - 12

Int - 26

Wis- 22

Cha - 21

Points - 75

They had barely changed other than the fact that he was now aware that he could raise his physical stats through physical activities.

With that in mind, he had yet to spend the points. He pulled out one of the EXP cards he received from his inventory. It was the size of a playing card and was completely blue in color with 'Exp' written on it.

It worked just like the name alluded. It could be used to level up a skill. His only question was; by how much? The amount of EXP it held wasn't given and neither was the amount of EXP to level up a skill so he could only make assumptions.

'I'll save these for later.' He currently had 8 of it from the mission alone. He pulled out a silver coin from his inventory with the word 'Gacha' inscribed on it.

It was the Gacha Token.

He was thankful that he didn't have a shop function. He had a problem with gacha in his previous life, making him very thankful for that and also excited for what he would get.

[Roll?]

[Yes] [No]

It was straightforward and there was no reason not to use it. Hoarding it didn't increase the rarity of the rewards from it.

[Gacha Rolled]

[Skill Added]

[Semblance - Photographic Memory]

A semblance belonging to a certain bunny huntress in training. It allows the user to mimic people's moves, including their fighting style. The user is not capable of mimicking skills that they do not have the requirements for.

'Isn't this Velvet's semblance? Not ba-'

*BOOM!*

His thoughts were interrupted as a loud sound followed by the brief shaking of the ground interrupted him.

'It's coming from that direction…' His thoughts trailed off as his eyes widened.

Rushing out of the alley, he froze. 'Give me a break! Why is it happening so soon?!' He screamed internally as even with his poor eyesight, he still saw the upper body of the colossal titan peeking from the other side of the wall.

'Shit!'