Ch-1: Bones of a New Beginning

A/N: "x" this denotes speech. 'x' this denotes thought.

Don't worry about the chapter being too big. Only this chapter is 2900 words, others will be less than 2k and more than 1500 words. Enjoy.

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Ethan Blackett's eyes fluttered open, and he immediately felt a hard, cold surface beneath him.

He blinked a few times, trying to adjust to his surroundings, and realized he was lying on a damp concrete floor.

The air was cool and strangely devoid of any stench. As he pushed himself up, his hands slipping slightly on the slimy ground, he noticed his surroundings were in stark black and white.

He glanced around, confusion washing over him. It seemed like he had woken up in a sewer.

The walls, usually cloaked in shadows, were clear in their grayscale detail.

He spotted a group of rats scurrying away from him, their tiny feet pattering on the wet surface. Their fur was a dull gray, blending seamlessly with the colorless environment.

Ethan slowly stood up, feeling a chill creep up his spine. The absence of smell struck him as odd, which made him focused on his breathing and he discovered, with a growing sense of dread, that he wasn't breathing at all.

His hands flew to his chest in panic, and his eyes followed, widening in shock. His hands weren't normal—they were skeletal. His chest, his entire body, was just bones. The sight was both horrifying and surreal.

As a science graduate, Ethan was perplexed. How could he be standing and conscious in this body?

He should have felt something, maybe fear or excitement.

Instead, he felt an eerie calmness, a rational clarity he had never experienced before. His ADHD had always scattered his thoughts, preventing him from focusing for long.

Yet now, in this bizarre state, he felt a sharpness of mind, a focused calm that was as unsettling as it was inexplicable. He felt more in control, more rational than he ever had, even more than when he immersed himself in his study of science or teaching. Even more than when he read novels, comics or watched movies and TV shows.

The contradiction between his skeletal form and his composed mind left him deeply confused, wondering what had happened to his body and why he felt this strange serenity.

Ethan then looked into the sewer water, hoping that his monochrome, or perhaps night vision, would let him see his face.

To his horror, it did. A skull stared back at him from the murky water, its eye sockets flickering with blue flames.

Desperate to understand, he tried to open and close his non-existent eyes. The blue flames expanded and contracted, altering his vision.

Instead of the oval interference caused by human eyelids, squinting made his vision focus sharply on one point, enhancing his clarity but losing his peripheral vision.

When he opened, or rather, increased the flame size of his eyes, he could see everything around him normally, though only in black and white.

As he explored his new body and the bizarre clarity of his mind, a sudden sound broke the silence. It echoed in his non-existent ears like the pop's of party poppers being used, jolting him from his intense self-examination.

The sound heightened his confusion and curiosity, pulling his attention away from his skeletal form and toward the source of the noise.

And then a blue-colored holographic chibi robot appeared in the corner of his vision—well, not completely in the corner as it took up nearly a quarter of his field of view.

It waved its hand and said, "Oh, hello there! Looks like you're up and about already. Sorry, it took me some time to reach you; I was getting some special instructions… ahem! Anyways, I'll get to the point..."

Ethan wasn't as shaken by this new revelation as he thought he should be. It felt like his emotions had been dampened. Even if they hadn't, he wouldn't have freaked out; maybe he would just feel a lot of excitement.

The holographic robot paused for a second, its little eyes squinting as if thinking something, then they went back to being full circles, and it spoke with exaggerated expressions, "Wow! You're not freaking out... not at all, huh!" It said this with a questioning look, even a few question marks appearing above its forehead.

Ethan kept silent, letting the holographic robot speak and processing whatever information it was giving.

After all, it was probably going to explain things, so why make its explanation redundant by questioning it first? Maybe it would provide more information by itself than he could get by questioning it.

Being a teacher, he knew how annoying it was to be interrupted in the middle of a lecture with questions about the topic he was just going to explain.

It wasn't like he hated questions—asking questions after the explanation was one thing—but asking them before was just annoying.

Then the robot shrugged and said, "Guess this should be easy then... Alright! So, first things first, congratulations! You've been transmigrated!"

Party poppers flew around, filling Ethan's vision. He didn't feel apprehension or confusion; instead, he felt a strange clarity. This new information simply made sense of what was happening to him.

However, the poppers blocking his vision were annoying, so he tried to swat them away with his bony hands. They just passed through the hologram without any effect, making him feel foolish.

The robot made an apologetic expression and swatted away the poppers. "Sorry! Sorry! I guess that was rude... Well! Seeing how easily you're taking all this," it added, turning its head to the side and whispering, "and not crying on the floor like an idiot," it then resumed in its normal voice, "I will go ahead with my explanation."

The robot paused, then a pair of spectacles appeared on its eyes and a stick pointer in its hands, along with a blackboard behind it.

Ethan raised his non-existent eyebrows at the robot's presentation style, thinking to himself, It's been quite some time since I was the one being taught.

"So, you're participant number ZYA#001," the robot said as the text appeared on the blackboard where he pointed.

"Seeing your wisdom stats, I can guess you might have a vague idea of what that means," the robot added, crossing its tiny arms in a questioning manner.

Ethan nodded, processing the information about stats, and for the first time in his new body, he spoke. "The number—" His voice, even at normal strength, sounded like the whisper of ghosts accompanied by the clacking of teeth, probably enough to make a grown man piss his pants if he heard it alone in the middle of the night. The eerie sound made him pause before continuing.

He said, "The number suggests that I'm the only participant or maybe the first. But the alphabets, seeing that they are in a descending order, must also mean numbers, though I don't know what they signify. I can guess that Z means 26, Y means 25, and A means 01. So, I suppose that means whatever the first part indicates, it means I'm 262501st."

The robot clapped, its expression forming a sarcastic smile. "Bravo! You're good at basic reasoning. Being a teacher has its perks, huh. Or, so you think. Sike!"

That hurt slightly but his focus was on something else. Knowing that the holographic robot was aware of his past life, Ethan understood that it probably knew more about his past life, maybe even everything.

Yet, he didn't care at this point. After all, he had transmigrated and become a skeleton; there wasn't any chance of going back to his family, at least not now.

As he thought about his family, memories surfaced. His hard-working father and mother, both teachers, and his sister, who was also a teacher.

Before being transmigrated here, he had been just 23 years old, his sister, 21. He knew that his disappearance from his old world would have left his family missing him terribly. But, oddly, his heart didn't miss them as much.

It wasn't because they didn't love him or that he didn't love them. It was just that he had never been used to feeling the sensation of missing home or his parents.

Even when he was young and went away to study, he never really missed his family. He understood that his psyche was not normal, not in his previous life, and certainly not now that he had become a skeleton with flaming blue eyes.

Ethan's new form didn't change his emotional detachment, but it did bring a peculiar clarity. He realized that his current state was far removed from the life he once had.

The robot's knowledge of his past seemed almost trivial in the face of his new reality. His skeletal body, with its eerie blue flames, felt more like a fresh start than a curse.

"...Earth to ZYA#001. Hello! Snap! Snap!" The robot snapped its tiny fingers, the sound ringing in Ethan's non existent brain, jolting him out of his thoughts.

"Now, now, don't go wandering down memory lane just yet. We still have a lot to discuss, and by discuss I mean, me speaking and you listening," the robot explained, gesturing animatedly while pacing around in Ethan's vision.

"So, let's look at ZYA. You were right, it's associated with numbers just like you deduced, but what you said is nowhere close. Our system is far more efficient than yours, but you won't be able to understand it. . . So, let's just focus on what those alphabets convey…Dun! Dun! Dun!...Are you excited for the big reveal?" The robot made exaggerated expressions and sound effects.

Ethan just nodded, thinking, 'Why does this guy beat around the bush so much?'

Seeing the lack of excitement, the robot sighed and returned to a more normal demeanor. "Alright! I can see that you're not interested in my presentation. So, I will cut to the chase. The alphabets represent universes... yeah, I don't see you being surprised. C'mon, I am not that bad at presentations, am I?" The robot made a sad face, its shoulders drooping.

Ethan rolled his non-existent eyes and said, "It's not you, buddy, it's me. I don't get easily surprised—a side effect of watching too many horror flicks."

That seemed to restore some confidence to the holographic robot. "Oh, if that's the case, then I guess it's... alright? Anyways, moving forward... the alphabets represent all the different worlds that we operate in, and by we, I mean our creator and us guides. The one who made us, our own personal One Above All. Don't confuse him with the Marvel one. Also, on that note, the world you've been transmigrated to is the Marvel world and you are the first and only participant of this universe. By the way, this universe is a perfect copy of the original. After all, you can't really cause chaos in the original ones with their own personal gods watching over them."

'So, I am transmigrated in the Marvel world by some extremely powerful entity which rules thousands of universes. . .That's not worrying at all.'

Ethan felt a mix of intrigue and excitement. The idea of being in the Marvel universe was both fascinating and slightly overwhelming for him.

The robot's cheerful demeanor contrasted sharply with the gravity of the situation, making the whole experience surreal.

As Ethan quickly sifted through the robot's rambling, clarity began to dawn on him about his bizarre situation.

Yet, the holographic robot wasn't done. It strutted around, hands flaring in exaggerated motions. "But don't you worry," it said with an almost theatrical flourish.

"Being a copy doesn't mean everything here isn't authentic. Everything is real, the gods, the people, everything. The changes you bring to this world are real too, so don't go thinking the people here are just NPCs. They are not. Make that mistake, and you'll be canceled based on public opinion for not being interesting enough."

Ethan's mind raced as he tried to process this jumble of information. The robot's last line made him freeze. He spoke again, voice tinged with confusion and urgency. "What do you mean by 'public opinion'?"

The robot halted, a sly grin spreading across its face. "Oh! You caught that, didn't you? Well, did you think this transmigration of yours was free? No, no, no, no. It comes with a slight fee, the fee of providing entertainment to the public."

Ethan raised his hand instinctively. "What do you mean by public? Who is the public?"

The robot glanced at his raised arm, then back at Ethan. "You can drop your hand; this isn't a classroom. As for the public…the most I can say is that they are extra-dimensional creatures. They can neither live nor interfere with this dimension. They are basically just spectators of your story. They can't do anything to you, but their opinion still matters very much for the survival of this world and you."

Ethan felt a wave of anxiety and curiosity. He was about to raise his hand again but stopped. Instead, he asked, "So, they are just observers, and like a TV show, I need to maintain the viewership by keeping things interesting."

The robot snapped its fingers and pointed at him, eyes gleaming. "Bingo! Man, it feels good to talk to someone with high wisdom stats."

Ethan's non existent heart pounded as he absorbed the revelation. The pressure of being watched by unseen, otherworldly beings was both thrilling and terrifying.

The idea that his actions were under constant scrutiny, that his very existence here depended on his ability to entertain, sent a chill down his spine.

He knew now that he had to navigate this new world with both care and boldness, all while keeping his unseen audience captivated.

At that, Ethan asked, "About that…would you mind telling me about these stats you're talking about?"

The robot snapped out of its dramatic reverie, a hint of embarrassment coloring its voice. "Sheesh! I forgot about that. Alright! Quick summary," it said, clearing its throat.

Turning towards a blackboard that had magically appeared, the robot tapped its pointer stick on the surface. "There are mainly eight stats that affect all aspects of your life, remember every stat is affected by another, so don't just go dumping all your points in one or two," it explained.

As it spoke, the stat names and their brief descriptions appeared in neat, chalky letters on the blackboard:

Strength: affects how much you can lift, throw, or how hard you can punch.

Agility: affects your overall speed and thus your power.

Endurance: affects your Health and defense. Also your health regeneration.

Intelligence: affects your Mana and calculative abilities. Also your Mana regeneration.

Wisdom: affects your ability to think and make logical and rational decisions in any situation along with your perception.

Dexterity: affects how perfectly you can control even the smallest part of your body along with your reaction speed.

Charisma: affects your likability to sentient beings and also your ability to convince or intimidate others.

Luck: affects your luck, like the ability to get better loot from a dead body you killed or being overall lucky.

"A normal human's average stat is 10 in every aspect except Luck, which is 1," the robot added, its voice more composed now.

Ethan watched intently, his mind racing to absorb all this new information. The robot then turned to him, a slight smile on its face. "As for your stats, here," With another tap on the blackboard, the information changed to display his stats.

STR: 10

AGI: 08

END: 12

INT: 11

WIS: 16

DEX: 06

CHA: 01

LUC: 10

"Why is my Charisma so low?" he muttered, more to himself than to the robot.

The robot, ever-attentive, chuckled. "Maybe you haven't smiled enough since you got here," it teased lightly. "But don't worry, you can improve your stats through leveling up, except for luck. Your Wisdom is pretty high, which is good. It means you're good at thinking things through."

Ethan ignored the robot and looked at the information, pondered for a second, and then spoke, "So I guess, due to me being a skeleton, my Strength and Endurance are higher than an average person while my Agility, Dexterity, and Charisma are lower… Also, my Luck is exceptional. Why is that?"

The robot looked at him with a proud smirk on its digital face. "You have been transmigrated into a new world teeming with unlimited possibilities, along with special powers, a new body, and me as your first-time guide—the complete package. How many people can say that, huh? I would call that lucky. Wouldn't you?"

Ethan sighed silently, partly in understanding and partly at the weird antics of his apparent guide. "Yeah, I guess I would… As for you being my guide," Ethan started, his tone slow and considering, "how long would that be, if you don't mind me asking?"

The holographic robot waved its hand in front of its face dismissively. "No, no, I don't mind." Then it turned to the side and whispered, "I do!" before continuing normally, "I am just here to show you the ropes. I will be gone after your first dungeon delve."

Ethan caught onto this new piece of information, feeling like a kid once again, asking questions to his teachers. "What do you mean by dungeon delve? What's that?"

The robot was about to explain but suddenly stopped, nodding a few times as if listening to something. "Alright! So, new orders…due to too much info dump, it's getting boring, and because we are just getting started and need to keep it interesting, you will be thrown into your first dungeon instantly. With your wisdom stats, I think it wouldn't be a problem for you to learn by experience. Also, call out [STATUS] in your mind, and the system assigned to you will appear. You can learn its functions as you go along. Now…[Initiate Dungeon Delve]."

With that, the blue holographic robot vanished from Ethan's sight, and darkness descended…

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A/N: I wrote this under the influence of 200mg caffeine at midnight. Hope you appreciate it.