Prologue. The beginning is not going well.
I didn't know what awaited a person after death. Purgatory? Conversations with angels, the devil... God? I simply pushed thoughts of my own death far away, to enjoy the carefree life of a schoolboy. And then, bam, I died in a freak accident. Riding my bike across the road at a GREEN light, damn it, I was hit by a truck. At least I didn't suffer for long. I felt unbearable pain for about three seconds – incredibly long seconds. And then my consciousness simply faded away. My last thought was, "I wish I could live again in more pleasant circumstances..."
Greetings! This message has been generated automatically by the Administration of the Game of God, with the code value 45134. The Game of God has appointed you to test a new Player system! Warning! The system is still in development. Bugs, crashes, and imperfections are possible. If you have any complaints or suggestions, the Administration will consider all your requests as soon as possible.
Do you accept the terms of the agreement?
Yes/No
In this silent darkness, a strange blue rectangular plaque with text appeared. Like in some RPG game...
It would be foolish to refuse a second chance. And do I even have alternatives?
In case of refusal, your soul will be purified and sent into the cycle of reincarnation. As befits a pure soul that has finished its life without the opportunity to choose.
Well, no. Somehow, disappearing doesn't appeal to me, so let's see what we have here.
Thank you for participating in our project! Unfortunately, due to program limitations, the future Player cannot choose their world. Taking this fact into account, the Administration has decided to offer you a pleasant bonus! You have the right to choose your starting Unique Ability!
Warning!!! Choosing an ability will result in a change in your Destiny, so think carefully about how your environment will react to your Ability.
Blocked Abilities: Creation of Life, Manipulation of Death, Fate Choice, and over a hundred more abilities. See more?
Well... The reason the Administration blocked these abilities lies in their horribly unbalanced power. However, I still decided to look through the entire list of abilities and noted to myself that there was no restriction on Time Manipulation!
Have I found an easy cheat for myself?! It's every kid's dream. Although... I suppose the reason this ability is available is in its development. Let's assume I can stop time, but since I'll probably start from level one, time stoppage will last only a few seconds.
Your Wisdom has increased by 1 point for the logic in your reasoning!
So, can I actually get something for free even before the game starts? And can I check my status?
At the moment, you are Dead. The Dead cannot view their status.
Um... Makes sense, I guess. Anyway! Give me Time Manipulation!
Are you absolutely sure about your choice?
Yes/No
And why did I suddenly feel not too good about this warning? Think, think about what could go wrong... Right! Such power can attract attention, and it's possible that it could have a very negative impact on me. There are bound to be those who want to use me for their dubious world-domination purposes or something similar. Or maybe I'm just overthinking it?
Your Intuition has increased by 1 point for the logic in your reasoning!
And now intuition? Does that mean I'm right? Why did my intuition increase now and not my wisdom? Argh! Damn it! Whatever! Yes, I still agree!
Ability chosen! Unfortunately, your appearance will also be randomly generated. Given your Ability, you can choose one Skill from the high-level branches of its development, and you can use it only once. Keep that in mind when deciding when to use it.
1) False Time Erasure. Activation words: "Time: False Erase." For a certain period, you erase the concept of time from the memory of specific individuals within a radius of twenty meters.
2) Time Rewind by Twenty-Four Hours. Activation words: "Time: Reset." The ability can also be activated automatically in the event of the Player's death.
3) Creation of a Time Duplicate. Activation words: "Time: Doppelganger." With the power of the God Chronos, you create a full-fledged copy of yourself. Attention! This ability is dangerous to use because the copy will possess the consciousness of the Player, so at a low level of Willpower, it has a chance to turn against its creator in order to become the "original."
I didn't quite understand how Time Erasure would work, so I chose Time Rewind for its versatility. I didn't choose the duplicate because of the warning. Maybe there will be a use for it in the future, but certainly not at the start of my... um... "Game." So, the world, my fate, and appearance are randomly generated, the unique ability is chosen, and... what now, my dear Administration?
Are you ready to start a new life?
Yes/No
Well, the most important thing is not to mess up at the beginning, and the rest will follow as the situation unfolds.
I suddenly woke up with a sharp pain all over my body. I couldn't quite focus my gaze on anything. The world seemed to swim before my eyes, my ears were ringing, and my body couldn't budge and felt suspended from something.
"System!!! Announce my status! What the hell is going on with me?!" I mentally shouted at the top of my lungs because I couldn't even move a finger in reality.
At the moment, you are Test Subject No. 88. The only successful experiment involving the implantation of God Chronos' Watches. You are in an unfavorable position because only one Bearer can be the Keeper of the Watches.
You are in an illegal laboratory, primarily consisting of scientists, guards, and test subjects.
Location Level: 20+
Danger Level: Virtually impassable
Would you like me to announce your current characteristics?
"Let's go..." I replied to myself, resigned.
Damn my greed... I expected some kind of trickery, but no, I was greedy, and now I'll be living in some hellhole with crazy scientists.
Name: Not chosen
Age: 13 years old
Titles: None
Race: Human (A Fragment of Chronos)
Class: Not chosen
Level: 0
Profession: None
Abilities:
Observation - Level 1. Targeted.
You can see descriptions and characteristics of items and characters that cannot mentally resist your ability.
HP: 300/500
SP: 100/100
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 18
Luck: 1 (???)
Intuition: 61
Willpower: 40
Wisdom: 26
Constitution: 30
Endurance: 10
Charisma: 49
Intelligence: 40
Mana: 0 (locked)
God Karma: Chronos +100 (Status: curiosity)
Special Features:
Black Fate
You were born under a Black Fate. Wherever you go, you always find trouble, which is why you've learned to predict future misfortune through Intuition from birth.
Now it seems I understand where those high Intuition and Willpower stats came from. The kid was just trying to survive. And the Charisma, most likely, is because he often got out of tricky situations using his sharp tongue. Probably...
Fragment of Chronos
Now Time itself is under your control. Each attempt to manipulate Time will consume your SP.
P.S. Administration's Hint.
Unfortunately, the Administration cannot provide you with information about your patron. In the future, you must find information about them on your own.
So, I won't get any information about Chronos just like that, right? Got it, I'll keep that in mind.
Player's Body
Transforms the user's body into the character's body, so instead of receiving wounds, you lose HP, and as long as you have them, you can recover.
Player's Mind
You maintain your sanity in almost any conditions.
Debuffs/Buffs
Severe Exhaustion (up to full recovery in 3 hours, 54 minutes, 10 seconds).
Due to the prolonged and torturous process of embedding the Watches, your body was on the brink of Life and Death. By a stroke of luck or a cruel twist of fate, you Survived, slightly amusing God Chronos. From now on, he will closely monitor your every action. The higher the reputation of your God and their influence, the more power he will grant you. Remember this!
And what am I supposed to do to amuse him?... Oh, never mind. My mood has already shifted from cheerful and joyful to terrible and doomed because of this start. Although, maybe I should be grateful for being given a second chance?
My normal vision returned to me, and I was finally able to look around. A small white room, five by five, with a mirrored armored glass in front of me. In it, I was suspended and immobilized by some steel tentacles that left me no room for movement. Only feeble rasps escaped from my mouth. Apparently, I had been shouting quite loudly if I couldn't speak properly. Above the door, there was a lamp that suddenly lit up with red light. A small squad of soldiers and a middle-aged man in a white coat with round and dirty glasses burst into the room.
"Schneller, verdammte Schweine!" (Faster, damn pigs!)
German?... And that insignia on their uniforms... Nazis?! Did I somehow end up in the time of the Second World War and now I'm a prisoner of these damn Krauts?! I hope it's not 1941!
I felt that I shouldn't open my mouth; I might say something wrong, and that would be it. Either new tortures or a buttstock to the temple. Considering my "luck," it would be... unpleasant.
Intuition +1
Out of curiosity, I decided to use my Observation on this "Dr. Mengele."
Name: Heinrich Faust II
Level: 23
Age: 51 years old
Race: Human
Titles: "Child of the Fallen Empire," "Mad Scientist and Fanatic," "Symbol of the Reich," "Alpha and Omega."
Relationship: -1000 (object)
Everything else was hidden behind question marks. Apparently, due to the difference in level and strength: judging by the titles, he's quite the guy. A survivor of the Great War who decided to start over. Well, that gave me a little hope because I really didn't want to die in the middle of the 20th century somewhere in Germany. And if this is just a small group of fanatics, all I need to do is come up with a plan and get stronger to escape from here as soon as possible. Judging by his attitude towards me, this professor sees me as nothing more than a "thing," an "object," a "toy" that he can use as he pleases.
The restraining steel tentacles released me, and I fell to my knees. Immediately, two soldiers restrained me and dragged me away. We exited the room into a long corridor; on both sides in cells, there were many dirty and worn-out people of various ages, dressed in the same dirty white shirts that they give in hospitals or mental institutions. I was wearing the same clothes. They had a kind of... "empty" look. The look of someone who has lost all hope. It sent shivers down my spine, but it only lasted a few seconds because my passive ability, Player's Mind, kicked in, quickly dispelling the emotions. Finally, they dragged me into a cell, opened the time-rusted steel door, and tossed me inside. A small solitary cell with just a sink with a half-broken mirror; a similarly rusted and disgusting toilet; and a half-torn mattress. Out of curiosity, I decided to approach the sink and see how I looked.
A teenager with a slightly messy mop of... attention!... green (!) hair and expressive amber eyes that glowed faintly in the darkness. When I closed my eyes, I even started to resemble someone like "Gin Ichimaru" from Bleach. I even managed to mimic his trademark snake-like smile!
You have unlocked the passive ability "Impenetrable Mask"!
When you create this image, even those higher level than you cannot predict your actions.
The probability of a successful Bluff/Intimidation/Persuasion in Mask mode will depend on your Charisma stat.
"Smile—it's irritating!" ©
Well, what do we have in the final analysis: I'm a captive. Don't know where. Don't know when. Don't know with whom. It was quite rash on my part to make assumptions about the time: so what if I don't remember Heinrich from history? As if I'd remember all these Nazis! But if they are even half as cruel, then I have very little chance of surviving captivity. Escaping on my own? Highly unlikely. But the first item on the plan is set: figure out the ability. Closing my eyes, I visualized a notebook (any computer has one—how is the System worse?) and carefully wrote down:
"The beginning is not going well..."