Mikael looked up after hearing the words spoken by Jamar. He saw an enormous eye, no it isn’t doing it justice immeasurable would be a correct adjective. It was a single eye with only a cyan iris and nothing else, no pupil, no sclera. This terrifying eye gave the chills to Mikael.
This horrifying scene caused his heart to start pounding at a fast rate. There was also a nagging sensation in the pit of his stomach but, Mikael know that he can’t afford to show fear so he spoke while being uneasy “Fuck, if this thing punch the Earth we would all be fucked.”
A couple of seconds only after saying this sentence Mike saw a blue screen appear in front of him just at the level of his eyes and heard an emotionless female voice speak directly in his mind.
[Humans of Origin World ‘Earth’ you have been linked to the Akashic Records and have gained the opportunity to evolve].
[By accessing the Records you can travel to a near infinite number of different worlds. You can grow also your power by traveling from world to world. Even gaining magic or immortality is not impossible if you have access to the Akashic Records]
[If you want to obtain the right to go into the Records you need to pay a monthly subscription of 1 year of lifespan]
[Do you want to pay?]
[Yes No]
Mikael heard an extremely loud sound just after finishing listening and reading the text sent by Akashic Records. He looked into the sky and saw the enormous eye gradually leaving from the vicinity of the Earth.
The Ground started shaking and Mikael was having difficulty staying on his feet.’Fuck, why does the ground shake soo much that it is an earthquake? Don’t tell me it’s the eye that accidentally touched the earth or something!
After Mikael thought about it for a couple of seconds he concluded.’ It doesn’t make sense for the eye which is probably a manifestation of Akashic Records, an extremely powerful being probably near-omniscient but not even capable of controlling her own body, projection, or whatever this thing was.
‘The only thing I can think is that she wants to intimidate the humans of Earth so that we want to join the Records and become stronger by using the fear of this situation as a catalyst. But it could also backfire because some people would be scared of joining the Records since they could die a every moment and this action reminds them of this fact’.
“Jamar, did you see and hear this message?” Ask Mike rapidly.
“Yes, it was a female voice that was talking in my head about joining the Records and that by joining the Records, I could gain strength and travel to different worlds” Answered an astonished Jamar.
“Ok, and you Leia, what did you hear?” Inquired Mikael.
Leia was visibly shaken by what was happening and took a couple of seconds to answer with a shocked “Eh it was the same as him i also heard the talk about the Records”.
‘I don’t understand this handsome guy. Five minutes ago he was threatening to kill me or kill other innocent people if don’t stop my investigation, but he is now asking me a question like nothing happened. Does he is bipolar or something’ thought a weirded-out Leia.
“Boss Mikael, what should we do” questioned a scared Jamar.
“Let me think about it” spoke Mike.
‘Now that this Akashic Records have appeared the world will change it is inevitable. Some people will accept the offer and become stronger than it is humanly possible, they will start to rebel against the government and the society will gradually fall into anarchy’
‘It is also probable that the society will become more strength based but without a complete collapse of the current social system’
‘In this situation, no matter which one of the two possibilities happens, the only thing that is certain is that strength is a thing that I need’.
Suddenly Mikael had a thought that made him extremely angry. ‘The only thing that is really, really annoying and enraging is that all the work I have done in the last years to create and grow the Crow to the level it is now will be fucking useless because now that the opportunity of gaining real strength has come to the members of the Crow will go in this Akashic Records and will stop obeying me.’
‘I need to calm down.’ Mikael took a deep breath to help him calm down. ‘It isn’t only bad news, I can go into this Records thing and become stronger myself’ he thought while loosening his fists which were clenched because of the anger he was feeling.
“Jamar” spoke a now calm Mikael.
The voice of Mikael attracted the attention of Jamar and Leia that was still there in shock thinking about what was happening.
“I will join the Records because this incident will definitively change the world and will transform the current society into a strength-based one. The law of the jungle if you prefer” announced Mikael.
Leia was visibly anxious about this possible future and spoke.“This isn’t a novel where people start to kill each other because they have acquired some powers”.
“You seem to be a kind person so you won’t do it but a lot of other people will feel liberated of having gained some strength and will want to use it, they will start not respecting the laws and think about it do you will want to obey a cop that you can kill by throwing a simple punch?” spoke Mikael
‘She probably won’t last long in this new world with her mentality’.thought Mike
Sigh
“Maybe, you're right I can see some people, like you for example acting like you said” uttered Lea.
“Oh, you're not that naive after all. This conversation was fun and all but I have more important things to talk about” spoke Mikael.
“Jamar, talk to our guys and ask them to join the Records, don’t forget to explain to them what I just explained to you”.
‘It’s the only thing I can do to keep some influence on the Crow without taking too much time. If Jamar helps them understand the change that the Akashic Records will cause the society and as a consequence help them, maybe they will be grateful to Me and Jamar and that will help me keep some influence on the Crow but I don’t give it much hope’ thought Mikael.
“What you won’t explain to the guys?” spoke a surprised Jamar
“No, I am joining the Records right now” announced Mike.
Right after Mikael spoke this sentence as he looked at the blue screen.
[If you want to obtain the right to go into the Records you need to pay a monthly subscription of 1 year of lifespan]
[Do you want to pay?]
[Yes No]
‘Let's try if I can speak to the Akashic Records directly from my head’ thought Mikael. ”Akashic Records I want to pay the monthly subscription for 1 month” Mikael spoke to Akashic Records directly by talking in his head.
[Payment accepted, your lifespan has diminished by 1 year. Your next payment is due by 1 July 2025 of Earth time. The payment is automated if you want to cancel your subscription don’t forget to get it done before the 1 or will pay for another month.]
[Transport in the Records possible, do you want to go into the Records?]
[Yes No]
“Accept the transfer,” said Mikael to the Records.
[Transfer initiated in 10, 9, 8…]
The moment Mike accepted the transfer he began to be illuminated in a blue light that grew with each passing second.
[...3, 2, 1, 0.]
The instant the timer reached 0, he was indiscernible because of the extremely bright light. Just after the light gradually started to vanish, and at the place Mikael was there was nothing anymore.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
As the teleportation process began a strange feeling washed over him. It was like he was being pulled apart and put together at the same time but without any pain. His sense of time was also being affected he felt like 1 second had passed since the start of the teleportation, but he was also feeling like it was an eternity since the start of this weird experience. Finally, he felt the ground under his feet but because of the experience he failed to stay standing and fell on his knees.
“Fuck, that was weirder than an LSD-induced trip could ever hope to be” spoke a knelling and shaken Mikael.
Mikael gets up and looks around, he sees that he is alone in what looks like a ‘cosmic library’, it’s the only term that comes to his mind. There was an endless number of bookcases in all directions, the bookcases were all different from each other but this only added to their beauty.
There was also a near-limitless number of books. Some books were in the bookcases but some books were levitating in the air, some were even moving.
At some distance from Mikael, he could see beautiful spiraling wooden stairs. The stairs were big enough so that 4 people could go up simultaneously and be comfortable, but the weirder thing is that the stairs didn't seem to have an end. No, they seemed to continue infinitely.
Last but not least the ceiling, or more precisely the ‘sky’. Oh, the sky is of an incredible beauty. The closest analogy to what he was seeing would be the night sky view from Earth but without pollution and with an x1000 zoom. The nearest and by consequence biggest thing, he could see was a large blue planet with a few green spots that looked like continents.
‘If this planet is the Earth how does it work for people of other planets, or are we the only world linked to the Akashic Records?’ thought Mikael.
Just after that, Mikael saw the blue screen, which represented a message from the Akashic Records appear.
[You are officially in the Records and have gained access to the System’s features of [Status], [System Store], [Tutorial], and [Request].To gain access to more features, you can buy ‘System Upgrades’ in the ‘System Store’. I wish you an enjoyable ascension player. Spoke the emotionless female voice of the Akashic Records.
‘Ok, so “Status” ’
[Status Information
Name: Mikael Angelini
Military Rank: Recruit 0/10 MP
Life Points(LP): 1000]
‘That says literally nothing and doesn’t help at all, but maybe if I try to see a detailed description’. “Records show me detailed information on the status window”.
[Name:
It is the name that is used to call you, what more do you want?]
[Military Rank:
A Military rank is a rank unique to the Records and won’t have an effect on the various worlds you will explore. This rank is a social standing indicator in the Records and allows you to unlock new features in the Records and gain various discounts on your purchases.
The way to upgrade your military rank is by doing a special mission that will be issued by the Records. In These missions, you will compete with the natives from your world, the better your performances in these missions the more Military Points (MP) you will gain.
Your current Military Rank is Recruit and gives you no benefit.]
[Life Points:
These are the Life Points that is the currency used inside the Records. You start with 1K. This is the value of your sacrificed year of lifespan. The primary way to gain Life Points(LP) is to do the quest in the world. Life Points(LP) can be used to buy ‘System Upgrades’, they have a function which is to make a ‘Request’ to the Records but they also have other functions to discover.]
‘For now, I should probably focus on the Life Points because they should be the biggest help in the short term. Military Rank also looks important but it would be better if I focus on it when I am stronger’ thought an excited Mikael.
‘For now, let’s look at what the system store is selling.’
[System Store
Basic System Upgrades]
‘Let’s look at basics for now.’
[Basic
Sandwiches 2 LP
Water Bottle 2 LP
Toilet Paper 1 LP
Toothbrush 1 LP
Toothpaste 1 LP
5x Men Shirt 2 LP
5x Men Short 2 LP
8x Men Underwear 2 LP
4x Sock Pairs 1 LP
Small Backpack 5 LP
Large Backpack 12 LP
Tent 8 LP
Sleeping Gear 5 LP
Flashlight 1 LP
Large Military Knife 30 LP
……]
The list went on, there were even firearms, bullets, books, and even a kit of kitchen utensils, but sadly like the name of this part of the system let us guess there was nothing magical on it. Just an item that could easily be found on Earth but now we need to pay with our lifespan to get them.’ A nice scam if we take a couple of seconds to think about it.
'Let’s check the System Upgrades Store.’
[System Upgrades
[Basic Stats System. Requirement: None
Allow the unlocking of the base attributes. Them being strength, agility, and endurance. Price: 100 LP]
[Level System. Requirement: Basic Stats System
Unlock the level system and allow the possibility of gaining experience points(XP), which will allow the level up of the global level and the class level, which will in turn allow the gain of stats. Price: 200 LP]
[Multi Class System. Requirement: Basic Stats System, Level System
Unlock the prospect of gaining and leveling a class. The user still needs to unlock the class by performing corresponding actions. Each level-up of a class gives some stats to the user, after a class is maxed it is possible to switch classes while keeping all the stats gained, but losing all the percentile and multiplier-based effects. Price: 200 LP]
[Quest System. Requirement: None
Allows the user to have a quest tab, that will allow tracking the quests even from an alternative world and also track their completion. Price: 100 LP]
[Notification System. Requirement: None
The user will receive a notification whenever there is a change in the system, the notifications are fully customizable. Price: 100 LP]
[Skill System. Requirement: None
Allow to gain skill after performing repeated actions. The skills will have a description of them. Price: 200 LP]
[Race System. Requirement: Basic Stats System
Allow the activation of the base race of the user with all of its benefits and demerits. Price: 500 LP]
[Universal Language System. Requirement: None
In the multiverse, there exist innumerable numbers of different languages, the user can’t be expected to know them all. With this system, the user will be capable of speaking, reading, and writing after hearing a language for the first time, except for some magical and runic language. Price: 100 LP]
Of course, Mikael saw other system upgrades but for now, these were the more relevant. He took the time to look into the ‘Tutorial’ and ‘Request’ features, but for now, there was nothing particularly useful, the only couple of things that he learned that were relevant was that there were three different types of worlds.
1: The first and rarest type of world is an Origin world. These worlds are unique in the entire multiverse and the natives of these worlds are also unique.
2: The second type of world is the Unique world. These worlds like their name let's guess are also unique in the entire multiverse like the Origin world. The difference is that contrary to the Origin world natives, the natives from a Unique world aren’t capable of transcending their world without exterior help.
3: The third and most common type of world is the Alternative world. These worlds are created by the imagination of an origin world native for example anime worlds like One Piece, Dragon Ball, etc, or even movie worlds like Terminator, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. The natives of these worlds will be incapable of leaving their world even with outside help.
There are a nearly infinite number of alternative worlds, and from each anime or movie, there are at least a trillion different worlds. Another thing Mikael learned is that to leave a world you need to say “Records I want to leave this world” and stay put without moving and without being attacked for 5 minutes before being ejected from the world in exploration.
‘Honestly, I don’t think I’ll go into an alternate world like, for example, One Piece. I just don’t find it appealing or interesting to go to a world that other people have already explored. For example, you might become the Pirate King in One Piece, but in another version of that world, it could be someone else, or in yet another version, all your friends might be dead…’
He didn’t think much of it before he decided to buy the system upgrade of [Basic Stats System], [Level System], [Multi Class System], [Skill System],[Notification System], and [Quest System]. With these purchases, his LP dropped directly to 100.
[System Upgrade purchased look into your system to see the modifications]
Directly after making the purchases and seeing the notification from the Records, His body started itching and feeling cold, but after a minute, the itchy and cold feeling continued to worsen.
“Fuck this feeling it an annoying one. If it continues to become worse, it will rapidly start to become painful.”
5 minutes later
Mikael was starting to suffer, and his teeth were clenched because of the pain.’The pain right now is at the level of getting continuously hit by a weak punch, individually they don’t hurt much but when all your body gets punched it starts to hurt a fuck ton. If it keeps getting worse I don’t know if I will be capable of enduring it.’
Fortunately, after reaching this point, the pain started to diminish, and after 5 more minutes, it was finally gone. The only thing that was still there was a sweat-covered Mikael.
“Damn, that really was not a nice experience. It has only been what? 1 hour since I accepted the offer of the Akashic Records and I am already suffering. I dread what it will be in 1 week or even in 1 month” muttered Mikael to himself.
‘There was a notification about some modification in my system. I hope they are worthwhile and I didn’t suffer for nothing.’
“Status”
[Status Information
Name: Mikael Angelini
Military Rank: Recruit 0/10 MP
Global LVL: 0 XP: 0/500
Class: None LVL: 0/0 XP: 0/0
Stats:
Strength: 12
Agility: 14
Endurance: 13
Active Skills: None
Passive Skills: None
Life Points(LP): (-900) 100]
[Average stats of a human male from the origin world, Earth, are 10]
‘Ok, that's nice now I have the possibility of obtaining level, stats, and skills. The only thing is that I don’t seem to have a class for now.’
[Selectable Class: None]
‘I remember the description said that you needed to take action to unlock a class. To unlock the Assassin class you probably need to assassinate someone. Or, for example, the Painter class where you may need to paint a painting.’
The next moment Mikael started to punch and kick nothing for a couple of minutes, trying to imitate martial arts.
[Selectable Class: Tier 0 Class: Martial artist]
When Mikael focused on the martial artist class, he saw more detailed information about it.
[Martial Artist 0/25
Tier 0 Class
Description: A fighter that fights using his body and only his body. You consider that using weapons is for the weak, your body is your weapon.
Stats: +1 STR, +1 AGI and +1 END per level.
20% increase in the learning speed of unarmed martial arts.
10% more damage is inflicted when using your own body to fight.]
‘This class looks nice, I will gain 3 stats points per level, and will help when I am learning some unarmed martial arts. I think I'll do a simple world before going get some unarmed training done.’
[Martial Artist Class selected]
‘The last thing I could need would be a weapon and after I would be good for an alternative world.’
[System Store
[Large Military Knife
A good 12-inch long military-quality knife forged using steel.
Price 30 LP]
[Purchase completed]
The instant Mike makes this purchase a black military knife in a military-themed case appears before him and falls to the ground with a loud ‘Thud’ because Mikael wasn’t expecting that.
‘Oh, yes forget that I don’t have an inventory so it makes sense that the knife is teleported before me.’ thought an amused Mikael
Mikael squats and takes the knife before putting it in the pocket of his jacket just beside his Glock.
‘I think I am ready to go into my first world.’