1 Chapter 1: Creator

A man stood before him in the vast, white space. His figure blurred and distorted every so often, making it impossible to make out any defining features he had. He was almost equivalent to a moving mannequin. He spoke, "You died."

"I expected as much." The boy of 19-years-old nodded.

"You're calm." The blurred man smiled slightly. "The fact that you're still talking right now, does that not bother you? Perhaps, this concept of an afterlife is something you're familiar with?"

The boy remained silent. He just stared at the man, waiting for him to continue. When only silence greeted him, he spoke up, "...Such a concept is a common occurrence in the literature works that I was provided with for my entertainment. Does this mean that you're a god of some sort? I can't see you very well."

"God?" The man chuckled. "Oh, I am nothing of the sort. I am merely a Creator. It's different from being a god, because as powerful as I may be, I can't create life."

"I see. Seeing as a powerful being that can create things such as you are leisurely talking with me, is it safe to assume that you aren't going to guide me to either Heaven or Hell? Or perhaps I'm currently being judged for my sins?"

"Come on, I already said I'm not god. It's not of my business to judge what you've done while you were still in the realm of the living. Besides, even if that's not the case, there isn't much to judge about the life you have lived."

"Then, what do you want from me?" The boy then sat on the ground, legs spread out with his arms pushed against the ground to support him. "What other use do I have now that I'm just a soul?"

"Finally! The question I have been waiting for!" The Creator's smile widened. "Be a Creator like me why don't you? Isn't it your dream to create things from when you were alive? Well, I'm giving you the chance to do just that!" He spread out his arms.

"What I wanted was to create stories; worlds where I could escape to and share with others to enjoy. However, that is all meaningless now that I'm dead." The boy laughed derisively. "Honestly, I'm surprised that Death hadn't knocked on my door sooner than now."

"Don't be hasty. I haven't finished yet." The Creator let out a small laugh. "What I'm about to offer to you is a way to become a Creator. It's also a way for you to realize your dream. What you wanted all this time wasn't to create alternate stories that you can escape to and share with others.

"What you have desperately wished for was to live in those existing fictional worlds that you have read about, away from your cruel reality." He burst out in laughter when he saw the boy's lips curled down into a frown. "Don't give me that look. You and I both know it's true. So, why are you hesitating?"

"...What do you gain from this? Why me?"

"A fellow Creator, a companion, a friend and everything else that's similar to those things. Frankly speaking, I'm bored. There's nobody for me to share my creations with. Then, suddenly, you popped out. An interesting little being that has potential to be a Creator." The man nodded repeatedly, agreeing to his own statements. "Anyways, if you don't accept my offer, your soul will perish, you know? You will not even be worth a speck of dust."

"...How do I become a Creator?" The boy stood back up, a small ember of hope lit up in his eyes.

"Excellent!" The man clapped his hands together. "Now, I shall bestow to you the World Creation System. It's basically a system that allows you to give matter to your figments of imaginations. Your creation depends on how vivid your imagination is, but it does take a toll on both the mind and the body. If your imagination is not strong enough, you might not even be able to create anything. That's basically it."

"It sounds so convenient. Is there no points required to conjure the creations? Or a shop of some sort in the system, like all those things I have read in the novels?" Suspicion rose within the boy's heart.

"Which Creator needs a system to tell them what to do? The World Creation System is actually less than a system, and more of an ability. But it sort of works like a system, as it follows a set of rules and all." The man shrugged.

"Why is it called the World Creation System? Creators are not able to create worlds, as that would be creating life, am I right?"

The Creator sighed. "That's because you travel from world to world and create things practically out of nothing. You build something that is not originally there. You can't create life or modify living beings except for yourself. And that also comes with its own limitations. You are directly bypassing some of the core laws of the world. Hence, the name World Creation System. Anymore questions?"

The boy shook his head.

"Alright. Now, stay still. I shall give you the ability to utilize the system. During that time, imagine the world and exact destination you want to go to, with a specific timeline in mind. After all is done, you will immediately find yourself in your desired location."

The man held out his hand and an orb of light the size of an adult's head appeared, floating on his palm. He then inserted the ball directly into the middle of the boy's soul, eliciting a scream of pain from him. The light from the sphere grew, and enveloped the boy.

Soon, the light dissipated, along with the boy, leaving the Creator alone in the wide expanse of white.

"I hope you don't disappoint me, Raine."

....

..

.

Blue Star Pole planet, Sky Profound Continent.

In a forest not too far from the Floating Cloud City of the Blue Wind Empire.

A bright white light manifested out of nowhere, scaring the small animals and low-leveled beasts to run away. After a few moments, the light faded to reveal a youth of 19-years-old. The boy had long, unkept black hair that reached the ground and the plainest of clothes.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he toppled over into the ground and only after minutes of struggling did he finally manage to sit up by leaning on a tree nearby.

"...That hurt." The boy, Raine, sighed before closing his jet-black eyes.

He could feel that there was something inside him that wasn't there before. It was the World Creation System. He tugged on that new and foreign yet familiar feeling and his consciousness was brought into a white space.

It was just like the space he had been in just moments ago, before the Creator gifted him the system and he was transported to here.

Was this all there was to the system?

According to the Creator, the system solely relied on his imagination. Then, was this place his mindscape, or what he imagined it would be to access the system? Either way, it was too dull for him. White spaces stung his eyes, so he decided he would change whatever this place was first.

He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them once more. In that brief moment, he completely comprehended how the system--his ability, worked.

Green grass grew underneath him and tickled his unprotected pair of feet. The raw feeling of soil gratified him. Soon, rivers flow as fat fishes of a myriad colors jumped out from them and back into the body of water. Birds were chirping and singing, and the tree leaves swayed along with the gentle breeze.

Flowers from each color of the rainbow grew all around him, providing him the sweet fragrance he had long forgotten. Bees approached them, collecting honey for their queen. The sky was a clear blue without a hint of human corruption and white clouds lazily drifted along; it was a picturesque scene of peace and serenity.

He could not create life in the outside world like what he just did here, but this was his mindscape and his domain. He could create anything he wanted here and bring them to the outside world, with the exception of living things.

Quickly, he conjured a full-length mirror to inspect his current appearance. He laughed self-deprecatingly when he saw his reflection.

Extremely dark eye bags plagued his dead-fish eyes and his sunken cheeks further complemented his emaciated and death-like figure. Coupled with his very plain clothes, it was a sorry sight to witness.

He was definitely depraved in his previous life. He loathed such a pathetic appearance that inadvertently came from himself and knew he had to get rid of it as soon as possible.

He closed his eyes once again and changes occurred to his body. His long black hair became silvery white tinged with a bit of blue. He had bangs framing both his forehead and the sides of his face. It was relatively short with the exception of a ponytail over his shoulder.

His eyes turned red and his pupils were the shape of a sharp, black cross. His ears was pointed and his previously short height increased. Raine was no longer himself as he had discarded the emaciated youth that he was and replaced his looks with the one in his imagination.

He swapped his previous ugly self with the most beautiful creature in his mind; a vampire. He no longer had a heart that beat, his body ice cold so that he could feel the warmth of other living beings better. The only remnant of his old self that he didn't change was his pale skin. It was to remind him who and what he used to be.

He looked back at the mirror, his new reflection satisfying his vanity. He then changed his clothes to that of a black buttoned up shirt with white stripes. He wore a black baroque-patterned blazer over his shirt and a pair of black gloves. A sharp black cross adorned his right ear.

He was the very definition of beautiful. His skin was flawlessly smooth with neither the previous pores nor the blemishes; possessing a porcelain-like skin, his looks was out of the realms of what mortals could have. He smiled slightly, and the buds of flowers around him immediately bloomed, endorsing his heaven-defying beauty.

Being a vampire gave him the beauty and strength he didn't have, but it also stopped his age and growth at nineteen. He was not a human, but a living corpse.

Perhaps he went too far, but he did not care. Having good looks was also an ability. He would stand out for sure, but he never planned to just blend in the crowd, and this worked just fine for him.

He went out of his mindscape, leaving the mirror behind. When his consciousness came back to his body, he was immediately assaulted with a mind-rending pain and it was as if his body had been peeled of all its skin and pierced with a thousand needles. Then while his raw, bleeding flesh was still exposed, the needles were taken out and heated with purgatory flames before being inserted back into his body. He who was leaning on the tree, fell to the ground, and his torture continued.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" His screams resounded in the forest, startling birds to flight.

He screamed, writhing on the ground. Raine thrashed on the ground and screamed some more as his voice grew hoarse. When the pain finally stopped, he had long lost his voice and coughed blood as the inside of his throat bled.

While his consciousness was hazy and his mind numbed by the pain which had descended onto both his mind and body, he knew his screams must have alerted any humans in the area. He wasn't concerned with the beasts, as they would recognize him as an unappetizing corpse thanks to him being a vampire now.

However, if a human was to discover him, things would get complicated.

He tried to get up, but his arms failed him, and he did not even manage to move his body even by an inch from the ground.

"Ugh...!" Even the slightest bit of movement pained him. As he grunted, he exacerbated his bleeding throat.

With a vampire's healing capabilities, his condition would return to normal soon enough, but if he didn't move soon, it was highly likely someone would come.

Just then, a rustling sound that came from a nearby bush halted his struggles to move. He saw a glimpse of a tall human with a height probably over 2 meters with sturdy muscles that was visible even through his clothes. Raine stayed still and waited, pretending he was unconscious.

Even as minutes passed, the muscular youth didn't seem to make any moves with how quiet he was being. Raine suspected the giant of a boy had approached him silently, but dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. Just from his entrance, nothing about the youth showed any telltale signs of him being capable of stealth.

What was the boy doing? If he was not going to approach him, then freaking scram! He was not in the condition to be nice and entertain uninvited guests.

Raine could not hold the pain in anymore and let out a grunt.

"Ah!" The giant boy let out a yelp. Only then did he snapped out of his stupor, and he ran away from there with hurried footsteps.

...Now Raine really needed to get out of here.