On the far edge of the territory of the Dragon Flame Clan was a small village. This village was called "Rising Dragon Village". It was called this because of its only notable feature; The Rising Dragon Inn. The Rising Dragon Inn wasn't a nice inn. In fact, The Rising Dragon Inn was what a cultivator would call bottom of the barrel and a more experienced cultivator would call two steps above bottom of the barrel. But for a village as backwater as Rising Dragon Village, this inn was important enough to name the whole village after it.
Outside Rising Dragon Village was a forest, though people would rarely venture out into it, lest they end up somewhere more backwater somehow, or, more importantly, die to a bear or something. And of course, the threat of dying to a bear would become greater when that bear is some form of spiritual bear, and even more so when said spiritual bear is a demonic spiritual bear of some sort. And wouldn't you know it, this forest looked exactly like the kind of place a demonic spiritual bear would live.
It took just a glance to tell that the trees in this forest weren't normal trees. While each tree was pretty thin – thin enough that a regular adult could wrap their arms around three fourths of the way around it – each tree was as tall as a small mountain narrowing into a fine point at the very top, like a very long cone. The trunks of the trees were a golden color, black zigzag patterns making rings along their length. Only three fourths of the way up the tree did any leaves appear. The leaves were purple, arranged in concentric circles, each ring of leaves getting closer to the trunk as they went up the tree. The trees seemed to be related to lighting in some way, each one seeming to glow with the light of electricity, locked up deep within its core.
But the trees weren't the only mystical thing about the forest. Looking into the distance through the trees, one would see a red fog. Though the red fog suffused the whole forest, it was so fine and light that it only became visible when one looked into the distance. This fog was in fact the main reason this was the forest around a backwater as opposed to a site frequented by cultivators year round.
The red fog was composed of violent demonic energy, the kind that would rip one to shreds while turning them insane were it not so thin. As it was, it simply made the forest quite worthless. The demonic energy made it such that any attempt to refine the trees here into lightning attribute artifacts would only result in either it blowing up or being made into an item that can't be used without the user blowing up.
It wasn't useful for cultivation either, as the lightning and demonic energy were too intertwined to be separated without a lot of work, the lightning and demonic energy were both too violent for most cultivators, and yet they were also too sparse to be useful for the cultivators who it wasn't too violent for. In the end, the only people who would really come here were people trying to hide.
—
In a small ramshackle hut in this forest, there was an emaciated boy, no older than three, laying face down on the old wooden floor. The boy didn't seem to be breathing. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be dead.
The boy suddenly opened his eyes, his body no longer looking emaciated. In front of his eyes was a semitransparent white screen. The boy jumped backwards, startled. As he watched the screen follow him, he calmed down, realizing it was just some weird screen and wasn't something trying to kill him.
He ignored the screen floating in front of him and tried to remember where he was. As he thought of the events leading up to his unconscious state he noticed something was very odd. When he thought back to the time before he fell unconscious he got back two different series of events. Before he fell unconscious he was lying on the floor starving to death. But at the same time he was in his hospital bed flatlining. The two completely different events were taking up the exact same space on his mental timeline. Even worse was that in one he was a little over two years old while in the other he was twelve. It was incredibly disorienting! Especially since both those memories had him dying.
The boy decided to look at the floating white rectangle. He assumed that the double memories and the white screen were related. It seemed pretty unlikely that he just happened to have transmigrated/gotten memories from another world and revived from two deaths at the same time as an unrelated white screen appeared.
As he read the words on the screen, his assumption was proven correct.
‘Welcome and welcome back! You're likely confused about your current situation. Don't worry! That's normal! You are someone who has gone through a Quantum True Soul Duplication Phenomenon! A Quantum True Soul Duplication Phenomenon is when a soul in the process of moving to a universe duplicates into two identical true souls! This duplication forcefully unaligns the trajectory to the target universe, causing both duplicate true souls to be sent flying to other universes! Because this deviation is unplanned, fate is not changed in any of the involved universes! This means that neither of the duplicate true souls is accounted for in the causal chain, and both will die before causing any meaningful impact! If this is allowed to occur unimpeded, the fate from the original intended destination universe will split itself in two! These half fates will then overlay onto the causal chain of the destination worlds! This interference will connect the duplicate true souls to the timeline! At this time as the half fate overlays itself over the opened gap! But since the gaps created by the duplicate true souls are sized for a full fate, it leaves a gap in the causal chain, which then turns into a metaphysical black hole, completely destroying the destination universes! And that's where the Quantum True Soul Duplication Phenomenon Metaphysical Black Hole Prevention Fate Collection Assistance Toolkit comes into play! It attaches itself to one of the duplicate true souls and forcefully brings it to the other destination universe combining it with the other duplicate true soul! The Quantum True Soul Duplication Phenomenon Metaphysical Black Hole Prevention Fate Collection Assistance Toolkit then absorbs the fate and resurrects the duplicate true souls! With the Quantum True Soul Duplication Phenomenon Metaphysical Black Hole Prevention Fate Collection Assistance Toolkit embedded into the causal chain, any action you take will cause the causal chain to shift, and the Quantum True Soul Duplication Phenomenon Metaphysical Black Hole Prevention Fate Collection Assistance Toolkit will skim the hyperlayer of the in-between state, gathering fate and allowing for the expansion of the omniverse! In return for your assistance in this matter, you'll be given rewards through the User Fate-Exchange Inter-Universal Utility Interface of the Quantum True Soul Duplication Phenomenon Metaphysical Black Hole Prevention Fate Collection Assistance Toolkit! In other words, you're employed and the job description is “do anything”!’
The boy was really surprised seeing this. That all that text was fit on such a small box while still being readable gave it another layer of authenticity.
He didn't fully understand what the technical descriptions about his situation meant, he understood a bit of it. It made a bit of sense why both his lives were so bad, now. The whole thing about metaphysical black holes that can destroy an entire universe was scary, but since it wasn't an issue he wasn't as worried. He thought about the last part of the text block. Though he didn't exactly want a job, being a two year and twelve year old, he didn't have any qualms about getting free stuff for just doing anything he wanted.
He pressed the big continue button at the bottom with his hand. The screen switched to a different one. He read the text on the screen.
‘To access the User Fate-Exchange Inter-Universal Utility Interface, you need to send consciousness into the mind space.’
Below the words was what looked to be a repeating short video. The video somehow managed to show the process of sending consciousness into the mind space. As if the video showed not just the visuals of the actions but also how they were done.
With the help of the magic little video, he quickly entered the mind space. Within the mind space, he saw a new box.
‘Welcome to the mind space! This place is your base of operations for all your interactions with the User Fate-Exchange Inter-Universal Utility Interface, as well as the Quantum True Soul Duplication Phenomenon Metaphysical Black Hole Prevention Fate Collection Assistance Toolkit itself.’
He pressed continue again and a big screen showed up behind the regular one.
‘This is the User Fate-Exchange Inter-Universal Utility Interface! First, press on the tab labeled “Homesickness Rectification”.’
At the bottom of the screen was another weird video that showed exactly how to do things, but there wasn't any continue button. He followed the video's instructions and pressed on the tab. The smaller screen continued automatically.
‘This is the “Homesickness Rectification” section. Here you can find items from your other destination universe. These items can only be used in the mind space. It's currently ordered by relevance, which means the things you used the most often will be at the top. Using the Homesickness Rectification section will drain the Inter-Universal Connection Dimensional Energy Bar. This will refill over time for free, but remember to keep it in mind while you make use of the “Homesickness Rectification” section. Now, try taking out an item.’
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Once again, a video was at the bottom showing how to take out an item.
The boy looked at the display of available items. He wasn't that thrilled to see the IV stand as the first item in the list. He couldn't think of any situation in which using it would actually help anything. He decided to pick the smartphone a few spots down the list.
After he pressed the button for the smartphone, a green phantom of a smartphone appeared, along with a smaller screen that said “Placing” and three buttons, one white “Multi-Place” button, one green “Place” button, and one red “Cancel” button. He moved the phantom smartphone over his hand and placed the phone there.
He pressed the power button on the side of the phone, turning it on. It seemed just like his smartphone from before his death in the hospital. It seemed to be functioning like normal too. He opened the 2048 game he had downloaded to play before he died. After playing for a minute, it seemed perfectly normal, though he couldn't really be sure since he died before he got to play it.
He tried using the Internet. He opened the browser and searched for “dog” to test it out. It loaded instantly, showing a picture of a dog at the top and an excerpt from Wikipedia, along with a bunch of website results. He looked at the Inter-Universal Connection Dimensional Energy Bar, only to see that it was almost empty. He tried going to the Wikipedia article, but when he pressed it, a floating white screen popped up in front of the phone, reading ‘Insufficient Inter-Universal Connection Dimensional Energy. Would you like to use Points?’
He pressed the green “Yes” button but it just popped up with a red screen with ‘Insufficient Points.’ written on it. He pressed no instead. The white screen disappeared and he saw the same search results page as before. Seeing that the Inter-Universal Connection Dimensional Energy Bar was almost empty he looked back to the floating white tutorial screen. He noticed that it had changed.
‘Now, try putting the item away.’
He looked at the video at the bottom and did what it showed. The phone disappeared from his hand and the tutorial screen changed again.
‘Next, press on the tab labeled “Information Manual Exchange Marketplace”.’
He pressed on the tab and the tutorial screen changed.
‘This is the Information Manual Exchange Marketplace. Here you can spend Points to buy manuals for things like skills, spells, and techniques!’
He pressed the continue button.
‘Look at the bottom left under the User Fate-Exchange Inter-Universal Utility Interface. This is your Point Counter! Points are the currency through which you'll be paid for your work! They can also be received through selling manuals in the Information Manual Exchange Marketplace!’
He pressed the continue button again.
‘Manual listings in the Information Manual Exchange Marketplace will have the manual’s name at the top and how many Points it costs below the name. Underneath the price you'll see a list of any relevant requirements to make use of the manual, with each requirement color-coded by availability. Black means that the requirement can't be fulfilled in your current universe. Red means that the requirement would be too hard to fulfill in your current universe. Orange means that the requirement is possible to fulfill but you don't have the prerequisites needed to do so yet. Yellow means that you have the prerequisites to fulfill the requirement but would still need to put in a fair amount of effort to do so. Green means that you haven't fulfilled the requirement but could very easily do so. Blue means you have fulfilled the requirement but will still need to put in effort to keep it that way. Purple means you have fulfilled the requirement and it will stay fulfilled barring a very unlikely occurrence or active effort to unfulfill it. If you ever forget what a color means, you can press the bar labeled “Color Reminder Key” on the left side of the screen. Press the bar on the left side of the screen and open the Color Reminder Key.’
The boy read the information and followed the instructions. A screen popped up with the explanations of what each color symbolized. The tutorial screen changed again.
‘To close the Color Reminder Key, press the “x” at the top left corner. Try closing the Color Reminder Key.’
The boy followed the instructions and the tutorial screen changed again.
‘The Information Manual Exchange Marketplace is currently sorted by popularity. You can change this by pressing on the button labeled “Sorted By: Popularity”. You can also search for a specific manual, either by name or by any other quality. To get more information about a manual and the option to buy it, just press on the manual listing. Try pressing on a manual listing now.’
The boy pressed on a manual listing at random. And the tutorial screen changed.
‘Now that you've been shown how to buy manuals, it's time to learn how to sell them. Close out the manual listing you opened and press the tab labeled “Document Manipulation”.’
The boy pressed the tab labeled documents and the tutorial screen changed again.
‘This is the Document Manipulation section. Here you can create, view, edit, copy, and export documents, as well as put manuals up for sale. You can press the plus sign at the bottom of the screen to create a new document. You can edit any saved document by pressing on it and pressing “Edit” in the drop-down menu. You can also make a copy of any document you have saved or copy anything you encounter outside of the mind space into your Document Storage by pressing the Copy button in the bottom left. Items you're holding can have their contents copied in their entirety without reading them. For things that you aren't holding, only what you can perceive can be copied. The Copy function can also be used to save images and multidimensional models. Next to the Copy button is the Export button. Using this, you can export any documents you have saved in your Document Storage into the outside. Doing this will cost Points, use up a physical medium, or both. The physical medium and amount of Points needed will vary based on what you're exporting and how. Documents can also be put up for sale by pressing “Put Up For Sale” in the drop down menu. If the document is suitable for sale in the Information Manual Exchange Marketplace, it will be assigned a price based on its value and be put up on the market. If a document is currently on the Information Manual Exchange Marketplace it will have a gold outline. To remove it from the Information Manual Exchange Marketplace, press “Remove Listing” in the drop-down menu. Anything within your Document Storage can be embedded into your memory by pressing “Embed” in the drop down menu, though you can also bring a document into your mind space by pressing “View” in the drop down menu. If you want to unembed a document from your memory, press “Unembed” in the drop down menu. You can search for a document by any parameter using the search bar at the top.’
The boy read the text on the tutorial screen. This Document Manipulation page seemed shockingly useful. The ability to read an entire book just by touching it was amazing on its own, but it could also be used to save pictures like a camera. He pressed the continue button and the screen changed.
‘Now press the tab labeled “General Utility”.’
He followed the instructions and the screen changed.
‘This is the General Utility section. Here you can alter your appearance, buy exclusive items, as well as buy upgrades to your User Fate-Exchange Inter-Universal Utility Interface. If you look to the left, you'll see a picture of your face with your current name under it. This is your User Portrait. Pressing on this will open the Appearance Alteration Menu. The Appearance Alteration Menu allows you to alter your appearance. Though most alterations will cost points, changing the length of hair anywhere on your body, changing your hairstyle, and changing your sex can be done at any time for free. Pressing on your current name will also allow you to change it for free.’
The boy was a bit confused about why sex changes were free, but seeing that hairstyle could be changed he decided to check it out. He changed his hairstyle to the one he had in the world where he was bedridden for now. After changing his hair he looked at the sex changes list out of curiosity. He was surprised to see how long it was. After male and female there were a bunch of variations of neuter, followed by even more variations of intersex, followed by a bunch more he hadn't even heard of before. He assumed they either weren't a thing in his other universe or weren't a thing humans had or both. He stopped scrolling down the list, lest he finds some eldritch sex that kills him when he reads its name.
He closed the Appearance Alteration Menu and looked at the current name. It read “Will”. His parents in his current universe hadn't bothered to name him, just referring to him as “the baby” and he wasn't part of the family of his first world anymore, so “Will” it was. He thought about changing it. On one hand, people in this universe would probably have a hard time pronouncing it. On the other hand, he didn't really care. He decided to leave it for now.
He pressed the continue button on the tutorial screen.
‘Underneath the User Portrait is your Gift Inbox. This is where any Bonuses you receive will be found. These may be given for special occasions like holidays, for outstanding work, or other reasons. Underneath your Gift Inbox is where you can buy User Fate-Exchange Inter-Universal Utility Interface upgrades. This is where you can increase the capacity of the Inter-Universal Connection Dimensional Energy Bar. On the right side of the screen is where you can buy Absolutes. An Absolute is an ability, the effects of which are absolute. In your Gift Inbox is your sign-on Bonus, which contains two Vouchers for Absolutes of the Immunity type. Press the entry in your Gift Inbox, press the Claim button to claim it, and redeem two Immunity Absolutes.’
Will followed the instructions to claim the Vouchers and looked at the long list of Immunity Absolutes. He considered getting Physical Immunity, but when he saw that there was also an Immunity for Earth and weapon intents he thought better of it. It seemed like it would only be useful against a pure body cultivator. He decided to get Instant Death Immunity instead. It sounded very versatile, especially since, as a two year old, a lot of things would probably be instant death for him. Also, when he thought of someone hitting him with a one time use ultimate attack only for him to be completely unharmed he couldn't help but snicker.
Having chosen his first Immunity Absolute, he already knew what the second would be. Qi Deviation Immunity. He couldn't afford a cultivation manual, and if he tried to go out without a cultivation manual to obtain points, he'd die before he even saw another person. Even if he tried to rack up points in the hut, he'd starve before he managed to get enough. He'd read a fair deal of cultivation stories before, so as long as he had Qi Deviation Immunity he should be able to wing it and figure it out through trial and error.
After he confirmed the last choice, the tutorial screen changed.
‘Now that you've redeemed your two Immunities, there are only two more sections you need to be made aware of. First is the Help section. In the help section. In the Help section you'll find the list of Asked Questions. If you want to find a specific question, simply type it into the search bar at the top.’
Will was a little curious about why it was just Asked Questions instead of Frequently Asked Questions. After switching to the Help section and scrolling down the list he found out why. It seemed like pretty much every relevant question was there, each with an answer under it. He pressed continue on the tutorial screen.
‘The last section is Settings. Here you can change the settings and customize the User Fate-Exchange Inter-Universal Utility Interface to your liking.’
He gave the settings section a quick scroll through before pressing continue again.
‘The last thing you need to know is about your Coworkers. There's a chance you may run into other individuals with a Quantum True Soul Duplication Phenomenon Metaphysical Black Hole Prevention Fate Collection Assistance Toolkit. It's advised you work together with them, as doing so will allow the hyperlayer to be skimmed twice for a casual chain shift created by both of you together. Killing or bringing intentional harm to a Coworker can have you receiving a Penalty if found to be unjustified after a case review. Coworkers will be marked with the logo shown below.’
Below the text was a dark blue rectangle with the short sides slightly rounded. Inside the rectangle was a picture of something, but Will couldn't figure out what it was.
He pressed continue again.
‘Good luck and have fun!’
The button that used to say “Continue” now said “Finish Tutorial”. Will pressed it, feeling a bit lost as the source of guidance disappeared. He quickly shook his head and focused. He wasn't lost. He knew what he had to do. He had to figure out how to cultivate, cultivate, and then get out of this forest. From there, well, he'd figure it out.