Prologue

"Ar..ou…?"

I start to hear a faint voice as I regain consciousness.

"Are you…?"

As my mind clears, the voice becomes clearer. Just what happened? How did I lose consciousness?

"Hey, are you okay?"

Despite being able to hear them clearly this time, I wasn't able to respond. My body felt heavy to where even trying to open my eyes seemed too difficult a task.

"Hmmm, he is not responding. I wonder if he is still numbed by this place?" The voice sounded at a loss before seeming to brush off the topic. "I suppose I will just have to wait for him to wake up."

Okay, this is getting annoying. I have no idea what's going on, I have some unrecognizable voice saying their going to effectively watch me sleep, and I can't move.

I don't know what the right call here is. I can't imagine there's any reason the situation I'm in would be a bad one like getting kidnapped, but I can't remember getting hit by a truck or something either.

No idea what to do, I do the only thing I can and try to move even the tiniest part of myself. Starting with a toe, I try focusing on it to move - even just a little.

I have no idea how long it takes, but I finally manage to get a twitch going.

Apparently, my observer noticed this as well. "Oh, you are finally moving. About time. If you are awake, why don't you get up? I don't think we will be able to talk like this."

I would if I could but it's taking all my concentration just to manage a twitch.

Fortunately, my irritation fuels me to focus harder and - maybe because I got something going already - it becomes gradually easier to move. I get to the point of curling my toes. From there, I can rotate my ankle and twitch my fingers. Then, I can almost squirm.

Once I get to the point of rolling over onto my side, I'm able to pry my eyes open. What appears before me is a pure white void.

"What the," I gasp.

"Surprised," the voice suddenly said. "It's no wonder. This isn't a place you can come to easily."

I struggle to turn my head toward the voice. When I do, my eyes widen.

Whoever they are, their body is entirely white with no defining features. No hair, no eyes, no nose, no ears, not even a mouth. I can't even determine if they are male or female. The only thing distinguishing them from our surroundings is a staticky, black outline around their body.

"Hey there, stranger…You kept me waiting," they said despite having no mouth.

It takes a minute, but I eventually manage to speak with a horse voice, "Sorry to keep you…any chance you could tell me where I am? And, who are you?"

"Here? Me? I honestly don't know how to answer these questions. I was born here and 'here' doesn't seem to be anywhere."

That answer does not help me in the slightest. But, I've read enough fiction to understand it. A, I am in the midst of a vivid dream. B, I'm absolutely tripping balls. C, I'm dead and this is either some sort of afterlife or I've somehow left my reality. I can't really do anything about options 'A' or 'B', so let's go with 'C' for now and see where this takes us.

"Just…," I begin but struggle some to swallow as I slowly managing to rise to my elbows, "Just what is this place?"

"Hmmm," the entity hummed in thought. "I guess, you could say it's 'Outside'."

"Outside of what?"

"A lot of things but maybe not everything," they replied with a shrug. "The simplest way to put it would be…if everything you ever knew was in a box, then we are currently outside it and every other box I've ever seen.

Okay, that actually makes sense. I guess all that research into inter-dimensional concepts was good for something after all. However, because I know stuff like this to begin with, it doesn't rule out the dream option. At least I can now manage to sit up.

"By the way," the entity suddenly asks in a tone filled with curiosity, "I know why I am here, but… Why are you here?"

"I have no idea," I respond flatly before looking up at them.

"You don't," they said with some sadness. Then, they perked back up, "Then, how about I help you?" They then reached out and put their hand on my head.

I panic. Nothing good ever comes from scenes like this. "Hey, wait-"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

My life was not extraordinary.

I'm in my late twenties. I have no real friends. No lover. An ordinary job I could not care less about.

The only thing I really had that set me apart was my younger sister. Our parents died as a result of an accident several years ago and it was their dying request that I take care of my younger sister. I agreed but soon after my sister fell ill with cancer.

I was never the best brother but for some reason I felt a sense of responsibility like never before. I desperately tried to find a cure but needed money. So, I used my savings, mortgaged the house my parents left me and my car, and borrowed a considerable sum of money to invest in stocks like my mother always tried to get me to when I was younger.

At first, the market was excellent. By sheer, dumb luck, my investment doubled in short period. Unfortunately, my luck did not last. I knew when to cut my rope before I reached the end of it. But on the advice of the firm I was putting money through, I agreed to try for bigger profits.

I didn't get it at the time - too much legal speak - but I basically used a high leverage with the company. So, when the market crashed, I suffered a big loss with no additional funding. Having it explained to me that I was effectively bankrupt, I used what I had left to pay off the loan I took. I was devastated and had no idea how to tell my sister I had and then lost the answer to all our problems, the house, and my car.

Family has never been something important to me - though I suppose questioning if it should be was. I always wondered if my detachment meant there was something wrong with me. But, I don't know, the harder I tried, the more determined I became. I guess I started to…care?

Since I was doing something I'd never done before, I did something else I'd never done before. I hit a bar. I decided to see how much it took to get 'hard to walk straight' drunk. Given I had one drink every five years, it didn't take much. Then, I walked out and 'accidentally' fell into the street. Among many witnesses, I was hit by an oncoming Expedition.

This was premeditated. One thing I'd picked up due to a company's advice despite not caring or fully understanding what I was agreeing to was an insurance policy. I may suck at knowing what I'm doing, but I do make the effort to understand what's going on around me. So, even if I signed up for the policy by accident, I understood it. Everything with my sister prevented me from getting around to cancel it, but now I could use it.

Since this would be ruled an accident, the policy would pay out enough to redeem the house and maybe my car if my sister wanted it while leaving a decent sum for her afterwards.

As the Expedition came toward me, a flittering thought crossed my mind. One of regret that this was the best I could manage. One that declared that, if given another chance, I would care about my family from the very beginning. One that said, I would protect them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"O…Okay," I wheeze as the entity pulls their hand away and I adjust to my memories flooding back. My body is drenched in a cold sweat. "So…I died."

"I'm not so sure," entity just absentmindedly spoke to…themself? "This isn't a place for the dead. Even if there was one, we're Outside, remember? Why would you have come here?"

One good point to all this is that I've gotten enough motor function to sort of stand up. "Good question. But not one we have any idea how to answer. So, how about, we ask, 'what happens now?' What am I supposed to do?"

"That is a good question. Normally, you'd have faded away by now. I gave you a little of my power to prevent that until we could talk, but the fact remains you can't stay here. Hmmm…But, you know, sometimes I do receive…I guess you could call them 'house guests'. Unlike you, they came here by their own means with the intention of leaving their own realities and seeking another. I suppose we could do that."

"You suppose?"

"Like I said, my guests came here on their own on their way somewhere else. You just kind of drifted here. I might be able to do something about helping you along to somewhere else."

"Not back to my reality," I ask.

"No. You cannot go back there as you no longer belong there."

I don't know what I was expecting. I don't know if I was expecting anything.

"I should apologize; when I helped you to remember, I saw your memories. If you don't mind my asking, do you even want to go back," they asked with genuine curiosity.

Honestly…I don't think so. Even if I could go back, what would I do? What would come next? Even if I went back in time, what could I possibly do to change things for the better?…For now, I think things ended as well as they could. They may say that the path not traveled is a path of missed opportunities, but heading toward the unknown when the present is good enough…Yeah, I'll take it.

"Nah, it's fine," I wave off the idea lazily. "The outcome we got is good enough. No point in spiraling down the Rabbit hole of 'what ifs'. So, where would you be sending me?"

The entity took a thinking pose as they looked at me. It gave me the impression that they were studying me. "Even if I can see into people's lives, I still just can't understand them. You so wished for things to be better yet so easily move on…Anyway, to answer your question…Let's see. I don't have a world of my own, so I can't just put you there. Let me look around a bit and see if there are any good fits. Somewhere your presence would not be too strange and is familiar enough to where you can establish yourself."

"That would be great," I say in gratitude. "So, when you say I'll be familiar with it. Do you mean it will be like my world, have some similarities to it, or is this a case of here being worlds that mirror fictional ones in my world?"

"All of the above. Still, even if it is one you know from fiction, you should be careful. I've taken a look at such cases and find there are a variety of inaccuracies that- Oh, I think I found one for you."

"That was fast."

"I guess. This world just seemed appropriate and would be fun for you. It is a 'modern' world but also one featuring what you would see as 'supernatural'."

I can feel my excitement growing - a grin on my face as I try stretching my stiff body. "That sounds like it could really be something! But…will I be okay there? I'm not exactly…I won't just die again will I?"

"Good point…I could pick somewhere else but…Oh, seeing as you already have some of my power in you, I could try giving it shape."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was looking through your memories, I came across some that feature people in situations like yours and how they receive special powers and abilities. I could try something to that effect."

"So, what, like giving me a gamer system?"

"Good idea," the entity cheered before deflating. "Though, I won't be able to do it exactly. I have no idea how to make a system like that. I could try to get close though…"

"I mean, I'll take just about anything really, so don't trouble yourself on my account."

"Nonsense," they exclaimed. "Truthfully, you've gotten me rather excited. I've never really had someone to talk to before. Those guests I mentioned are usually quick to leave and even those who linger rarely speak to me. So, someone like you who isn't afraid to speak with me is a novel experience."

"Well…In that case, I guess I'm happy to help. So, what do you think I'll be working with?"

"Well, according to your memories, 'the gamer' typically has Gamer's Body, Gamer's Mind, a status, and a menu. Gamer's Body defies the laws of physics, and unfortunately I have no idea where to begin with that. The natural laws I've unserved in realities like yours always seemed so funny but I've never had to adhere to them."

Huh. So to him, real world physics must be like us reacting to cartoon physics. Good for a show but hard to comprehend when you apply your own understanding of the world to them.

"Let's see…The two key points seem to be ignoring damage and recovery. So, how about, Body Control and Rest & Relaxation. These two abilities probably aren't as good as 'Gamer's Body', but they should be close enough. As for Gamer's Mind, I don't really know how to do this without suppressing your emotions completely…Okay, I'll replace it with Calm Mind and Mental Immunity. That should work. As for status…" The entity seemed to grow frustrated and scratched the back of their head in…exasperation? Annoyance? "You have memories of something else…an ability called Observe. I'll just give you that and formate it as a status page…"

"Now, as for a menu. I'll be honest, I have no idea how to begin with that. Plus, Gamers are supposed to have something called ID Create?"

"Like I said, I'll take whatever you give me. No need to go too far just for me."

"And I told you not to worry about it," they told me before turning back to…something. "Now, let me see. How about…Yeah, that could work…A~And, got it!" After cheering about their apparent success, they turned back to me. "So, I kinda gave up on trying to give you a menu. But I cam up with something sort of close and added some features of my own. Let's call it Nexus."

Not like I have much of an opinion, I simply nod, "Okay. So, is that it."

"Not quite. There's two more points I'd like us to consider. The first is one of these 'classes' Gamers typically get. Your memories offer too many options for me to just select one. What do you think?"

A class? Okay. I guess this will give me the power to fight back if I need to. Let's see… "Can you tell me anything about this world. Is it about martial arts, magic…Getting epic power-ups from screaming the loudest?"

"Nope," the entity replied cheerfully. "Consider it a surprise."

Wonderful. So, I should just pick whatever instead of tailoring it to fit the world. So, let's see…I want magic, but I have no idea how complicated it would be. Never was one for studying if I didn't have to, and I usually default to melee classes. Even when I played magic users I'd usually prefer an aggressive play style. Warlock was my favorite, I liked having a little minion to do my bidding or a meat shield.

As for melee class, I typically play warrior. I always meant to circle around and play all classes, but for that I'd actually have to finish a game. But for one reason or another I'd always start over and pick warrior again. However, warrior's need weapons, and I have no idea how to use…anything. So, what about hand-to-hand classes like fighter, brawler, martial artist, or…Wait… Maybe that would be the best of both.

I ask, "What about monk? Would I be able to have magic and strength?"

They tilted their head thoughtfully before replying, "I don't see why not. Still, I expected you to chose a weapon of some sort based on your memories. Another surprise."

"Like what," I laugh. "I don't know how to use any."

"Uh…What about a gun? Those seem easy to use."

"While I'd like a long range option, I'm not going to believe it's really as easy as point and shoot. Plus, there's stuff like maintenance and god knows what else."

"You could learn?"

"Can I learn it in this world?"

The entity nods hesitantly.

"Then why waist my class if I can have it and get a gun?"

"Fair enough. And, now that I think about it, your memories feature someone who could shoot a bullet from their finger. Yu…Yuma…Yukarisha!"

"...…Are you trying to say Yusuke Yurameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho?"

"That's the one! Hmm, that kind of ability isn't so for off from your class. I'll add that in. That just leaves one more thing."

"What's that?"

"I see in a lot of your memories, stories feature people like you getting powers or a wish. I figured I'd give it a try. So, what would you wish for as a power?"

I blink for a moment before trying to list off various abilities that come to my mind. "Um, I guess, Predator, Degenerate, Spiritual Corridor, Food Chain, Eater, Cut and Paste, Synthesis…"

"Okay, okay, I think I get the vein your mind is working in. Let me see what I can do." The entity then went about waving their hands in front of them as they fiddled with…something.

After a while, I got bored and started stretching and doing some exercises to keep myself limber and because I was worried I'd suddenly lose feeling again.

Eventually, the entity finished with an enthusiastic, "I got it!" They then turned to me. "Okay, so I'm going to give you what I'm calling Power Bank. Think of it as an ability to borrow, copy, and liquidate others' powers."

"Thank you," I say while giving a little bow. What else could I say at this point?

I then feel them place their hand on my head again. "Don't mention it. But if you have the chance, come back around sometime, I'd like to talk with you again."

Everything went dark.