Choice, Inheritance Lands, and the feeling

Kai's memories related to the Demon Slayer Random World had been deleted by the Systems before the beginning of the 2nd Stage.

Later, when he got to know many things from Sponsor Aphrodite, it almost took care of this problem. However, even then she had only covered the fat topics about the Random World and hadn't mentioned the minute details, considering them unnecessary.

Kai hadn't believed everything told to him by these Sponsors. Not only Aphrodite, but he also didn't believe Shadow Origin's words completely. Forget what these Contestants might have held back from telling him, Kai even had a strong feeling that only 30-40% of the things shared with him were true, and the rest were well salted, to the point of tasting bitter.

So Kai had been confirming the things learned from Aphrodite with Shinobu little by little.

This Blue Spider Lily hadn't come up even then among all the topics they had discussed during their late evening chats.

So when the rows of words on the white screen showed him what it truly represented, it truly shocked him.

[[

Reward - Blue Spider Lily

1. Upon consumption, the Contestant will gain a stand-alone Title — Demon King

2. Title Effects are:

a. HP Regeneration Rate: +100%

b. Skill: Demon Progenitor (growth type)

c. Skill: Biokinesis

d. Skill: Demon Manipulation

e. Charisma: +25 (for all beings that come under the qualification of "negative side" in the Multiverse)

f. Charisma: -25 (for all beings that come under the qualification of "positive side" in the Multiverse)

3. The Item will also grant a onetime Life Halt of 100 years

4. Elementary Ability - Consciousness Manipulation

5. Genetic Disintegration in the presence of Sunlight (Time Limit: 3 seconds)

6. All light-based Skills and Items are 100% more effective against the Contestant

Note: Blue Spider Lily is equivalent to a Low-level Heroic-grade consumable Item

]]

Kai was standing on the floor. When his butt had left the chair? He didn't know. In sheer astonishment, Kai gawked at the Reward. In disbelief, he marveled at its effects.

Was he truly seeing it right? How was this even comparable to 1 Million Mission Credits?

This was a genuine Heroic-grade Item! The very first which Kai could use right away, if obtained.

Even if Kai were to put aside the monstrosity that the Title, Demon King, represented, the Life Halt and the Ability by themselves were worthy enough for Kai to salivate at their sight.

This wasn't just an Item in his eyes.

This was Power!!!

Yet, the more he contemplated with a rational mind, the better he understood the reason for its presence among his Rewards.

'Genetic Disintegration…' Kai repeated the word in his mind, narrowing his eyes. 'The 4th point alone has brought down the level of this Item to the Top-level Uncommon grade, bypassing the Rare grade between Uncommon and Heroic. No wonder the Systems put it in the rewards. Even if it grants such powers, the moment I was to remain in contact with sunlight for over 3 seconds, my genes would disintegrate. Tch-Tch!'

It wasn't a mere HP loss. It wasn't a loss of Life Essence. Nor was it comparable to losing Base Attributes or Abilities.

Kai had profound knowledge regarding the field of genes and its sister subjects. One could never recover from losing genes, he knew.

Not to mention, this 4th point wouldn't have mattered much if Kai's operations were limited to a single Random World. No. He was a Contestant. Kai must travel across the Multiverse, complete missions, and achieve rewards and resources.

And Sun was almost everywhere.

'It would be like crippling myself after gaining wings,' Kai reflected, sitting back on the chair uncomfortably.

Yet, even he couldn't deny that the allure of those wings was too much to ignore.

Kai tapped his fingers over the chair's arms, falling into a deep state of contemplation. He wasn't indecisive, but cunning deeds needed thinking, and thinking needed time. He had to compromise and find a middle ground somewhere.

After a few minutes, Kai nodded to himself and looked up. His hazel pupils had regained their tranquilness, and doubts and hesitations had been erased out of them by sheer will.

"Show me the second Item," Kai demanded.

The words on the white screen blurred.

[[

Reward - Hanafuda Earrings

1. Grants Candidacy to the Inheritance of the Legendary Demon Slayer, Yoriichi Tsugikuni

2. Charisma: +50

3. Elementary Ability - Breath Manipulator (Valid for all forms of Breath across the Multiverse)

Note: Hanafuda Earrings is equivalent to a Top-level Uncommon grade Item

]]

There was only one word that appeared in Kai's mind as he saw the information about this Item — Concise.

What did it mean by Candidacy to an Inheritance? Kai was no more aloof about this subject. Not when he had already gained such an Item in the Random World of Game of Thrones.

Every once in a while, the Systems opened up a dimension, bringing all Candidates of an Inheritance together. It could be a Random World or a stand-alone place, called the Inheritance Land. There was no limit over Contestants or their Stats too. The only criterion was to have the Item that granted the Candidacy, and that Item must belong to the Contestant only.

The difficulty of this dimension depended on the Inheritance grade, which the Systems only revealed just before the opening of the dimension. If it were to be higher than a Contestant could go against, then they had the option to reject the teleportation and wait it out until the next Inheritance Land's opening.

For example, if the equivalent grade of Inheritance was Uncommon, then only Candidates from 1st to 3rd Set could vie for it.

Not to mention, such Inheritance Lands were full of Items and Skills, enchanting the Contestants to not let go of the chance, despite them having no chance of obtaining the actual Inheritance.

So it didn't surprise Kai that with only the 1st point and an Elementary Ability, this Item stood itself side by side with the Blue Spider Lily.

However, Kai didn't want it.

Not anymore.

He didn't even need to think about it. Yes, the Ability was perhaps one of the strongest Kai had ever laid his eyes upon. Yes, the Inheritance of the Legendary Demon Slayer, the creator of the Breathing Styles, and when combined with the concept of Bleach Random World, looked too good an opportunity to pass upon.

But Kai still didn't want it.

His was the path of Selflessness. It wasn't a derived Breathing Style from the Sun Breathing, so how could it tolerate the presence of the Sun, Moon, or Stars within it? If he were to practice other Breathing Styles in the future, then he would do it for research only. Kai could easily accomplish that in the VF Demon Slayer Random World, now that he had its Multiverse ID with him.

So it all came down to the 1 Million Mission Credits and the Blue Spider Lily.

Even now, the Mission Credits shone with an unmatched brilliance in Kai's mind. The privilege of jumping to the other Random Worlds was just too outstanding. Now that he was in Random World, which represented the combined missions of the 2nd Set, every such jump would cost him an unimaginable amount of Mission Credits, Kai knew.

Kai ran his hands through his hair and shook his head.

"Haha!" a chuckle escaped his throat like the snarls of a beast. "What a predicament!" he exclaimed. "Even now the Systems are testing the Contestants. No wonder the Tournament of Worth is so dangerous. Am I right, Chaos, Order? You are trying to instill feelings of regret, right?"

The Systems didn't reply.

That, too, was an answer in itself.

Kai scoffed inwardly. There wasn't a single thing he regretted. Not a single decision that he had taken, he would take another way, if given the chance again. Such things didn't comply with his Demonic Path.

If there was a regret, then it was to not have the Power when he needed it; when his mother was dying in his arms, urging him to live.

Even that regret Kai had discarded with his revenge.

So why would he regret choosing a reward now, and not choosing the other? This decision couldn't even be talked about in the same breath as a few hideous risks Kai had taken in his life.

"Blue Spider Lily." Kai's answer was the strike of a hammer. Powerful and Thunderous. All nails of regrets got smashed into the Systems' asses.

Now that thought made Kai chuckle, a psychotic grin appearing on his face.

A white altar rose in front of the White Screen. Over it, stored in a cylindrical glass and planted in black soil, was a blue-colored flower that didn't look demonic.

Yet appearances weren't always the strongest way to regard something, Kai had learned.

With one flick of his hand, Kai stored it in his Inventory.

[[

Details of the next Stage will be announced to you three days before its commencement

Sending Candidate Blood Demon back to his Time Node…

]]

Kai smiled, the blue flashes of teleportation covering his tall figure like a blanket.

Suddenly, just as his figure blurred, Kai's eyes widened and his instincts roared wildly.

'Wait! This feeling again?!' Kai asked himself. 'I thought this feeling was because the Systems must have deleted my memories related to the Demon Slayer World like the last time in the case of the Alien and Predators Random World. Then why?!'

Both Kai and Item-M had lost their memories last time. As they were in their respective Random Worlds, they had no way to know about it without coming in contact with another Contestant, who knew about the Alien and Predators Random World.

However, they had the privilege of having such a Contestant around them all the time.

It was Item-S.

When Kai shared his experiences with her, after returning to the Harry Potter World, it shocked Kai for her to say that she already knew about it. Moreover, it was Item-M herself who had told her.

It was a very mysterious feeling. So it had taken Kai a few days to realize and recall this theory after his teleportation to the VF Random World. By then, he had already contacted Contestant Aphrodite.

So now that he had already recalled him having forgotten about a Random World, Kai hadn't expected to experience this feeling again. Not at all.

It was the same feeling of forgetting something.

At the last moment of his teleportation, Kai's eyes had narrowed to a point.

His instincts had never betrayed him. There indeed was something odd going on behind the curtains here, Kai reflected.

But what?

The blues became bluer, and Kai vanished, his brows pressed together, his mind lost in a sea of thousand thoughts.