When the month ended and Genji returned to EverRealm, he took out the [World Selection Token] and made his request.
"Give me a world where I can upgrade Curse Bearer."
The countdown timer paused, and the token's durability count reduced by one. A string of calculations with strange letters, symbols, and numbers flooded his interface like a waterfall. The text flowed so fast that the spacing between the lines blurred, creating a white wall.
This process lasted five minutes before it calmed, leaving only one confirmation line from EverRealm.
[Optimal world has been found. Request is possible. Countdown will now resume.]
Genji closed the tab, put away the token, and did his final checks. Bruce awoke from his slumber, flowing around him as a vibrant stream of blood. Astros happily gnawed on a large nut, indifferent to the upcoming adventure.
"It's time," Genji said with a light smile. "Let's see what this world has in store for us."
Then he blanked out, and the space around him distorted. When he refocused, he found himself in a tiny shed full of dust. A musty odor of sawdust filled his nostrils, and the soft creak of wood echoed beneath his feet. A thin beam of light entered through the wall crevices, highlighting the airborne particles.
----------------------------------------
Tumultuous Frontier
Background:
A world rife with social instability and disorder. Chaos and violence are the norm. Negative emotions surge higher than the skies. Resentment floods minds, nourishing the world’s curses. And at the peak of this anarchy are the witches, women who embrace dark powers to exact vengeance on their wrongdoers. They hide within civilization, neither human nor ghost, but disastrous nonetheless.
World Owner: EverRealm
Mission: Remove as many unstable elements as possible and help restore order to the world.
Note: This is a world defense mission. Other realms will try to outperform you. If you fail, this world will be put up for contention to determine a new owner.
Duration: 20 or 40 days. You may choose which deadline to leave at.
Note 2: Due to the mission's importance, EverRealm has deployed multiple high-ranking members. Work together to ensure success.
World Principles:
1. Curses and similar attributed abilities are boosted by 50%.
2. Magic and mystical abilities are boosted by 30%.
3. Holy, healing, and buff-related abilities are reduced by 45%.
4. World stability is 8x that of your home world.
Hint: A few helper items have been provided to aid your start.
----------------------------------------
Genji looked around the room and noticed a table in the corner. On it lay a rolled-up parchment, a dull metal badge, and a purple triangular bipyramid. Genji unfurled the parchment, revealing a continental map marked with ink.
The western side of the continent was highly detailed, showing railroad tracks, towns, rivers, mountains, major structures, and danger zones. In contrast, the eastern side was mostly barren, with some sections missing even basic topography. It was clear where previous explorers had concentrated their efforts in creating this map.
The metal badge had a circular base topped by an overhanging star-shaped layer. At the center of the star was a skull wearing a cowboy hat, encircled by a border engraved with "Witch Hunters." This was the identity EverRealm had arranged for Genji, granting him access to various conveniences among the natives.
Finally, there was the semi-transparent purple crystal, containing a miniature version of itself within. This was the most important item of the three.
[Essence Distilling Prism]
Rating: Legendary (Peak)
Durability: 200/200
Effect: Passively siphons surrounding energy into an internal storage reservoir. When full, initiates a refinement process to purify the gathered energy.
Description: A special tool EverRealm uses to collect excess world energy from 4th- and 5th-step worlds. It has been specially calibrated to accept the curse energy from this world and is lent to you under [World Selection Token] requirements. Please take good care of it. Any incurred damage will result in a corresponding fine. If destroyed, you will be subject to a fee of 30 privilege tokens.
Note: All beings in this world contain varying degrees of curse energy. Killing them will release this energy for the prism to absorb.
Note 2: After you leave this world, the collected energy can be used as material to upgrade [Curse Bearer].
Essentially, EverRealm was asking Genji to massacre all his enemies, sparing no one—not even common monsters. It was a full-out extermination order.
'EverRealm's going all out for this. First the identity and now this. This must be an important world. Let's see who I'm working with.'
Genji opened his friends list and noticed several familiar names: 7156, Celine, and even Fiona—the unfortunate woman who had purchased the cursed inheritance and was later held for ransom in the Barren Wasteland.
It made sense why these three were chosen for this world. 7156 was a champion with exceptional combat strength, Celine could provide valuable support, and Fiona's power system aligned perfectly with this world. One could even say it was an exact progression of Fiona's inheritance.
"I'm surprised I'm still on her friends list. Our last meeting wasn't exactly pleasant for her," Genji commented about Fiona. Just as he said that, Fiona's name disappeared from his screen.
"..."
"..."
Even Bruce was speechless at this development. The witch had apparently not checked her friends list until now.
'Why does she seem a little slow?' Bruce wondered. 'What good is removing us when you're already exposed?'
At the same time, Genji received an invitation link and message from Celine.
Celine: If I didn't know better, I'd think you're the real prophet between us. But I've checked my casual relationships and didn't find any signs of tampering. Everything is just a big coincidence. Anyway, click the link and join the group chat. I'm setting up a platform to share information.
Genji accepted, and a cascade of names flooded the screen. 7156 was among this initial group. In the end, the group settled at 27 members.
This does not mean there are only 27 EverRealm members in this world; rather, Celine had 26 of them in her immediate contacts. More people would trickle in as these members shared the link with their acquaintances. This was an impressive result, considering how many worlds the members were scattered across.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Celine: Welcome, everyone. For those who don't know me, I am Celine, a seer who specializes in general overview divination. I know many of you are new to my chats, so I'll list my rules here.
1. Don't spam the chat. Keep everything concise and easy to find. Create a separate chat or directly message someone.
2. Feel free to post trade or help requests. There’s no guarantee anyone will accept, but it's worth a try.
3. I will personally be accepting commissions for divination if anyone is unsure about their future. I also reserve the right to increase the price if the request is too difficult.
4. Don’t lock information behind a payment. Either keep it to yourself, share it for free, or discuss the payment separately. I don’t want this chat to become an information bazaar where everyone tries to peddle their reports for a small amount. I will remove any such paywalls.
Celine was adamant on the last point because she had witnessed the resulting mess in her previous world. At that point, it was just an unregulated spam fest, making the experience insufferable for everyone involved.
Zon: Sounds good. I look forward to working with you.
Harper: Same here.
A few others voiced their support and contributed to a harmonious atmosphere. Genji closed the chat and stored the provided items. The map and badge went into his storage, but the crystal had to be kept outside to function. Genji strapped it to his waist and exited the shed.
The first thing he noticed were the two suns in the sky, a stark contrast to what he was familiar with. Light distorted under this immense heat, creating a disorienting reflection. The dry dirt also trapped a lot of heat, creating an oven-like environment. Water would easily evaporate in such an atmosphere.
Genji wiped the sweat off his face and summoned Bruce.
"Let's go. We need to orient ourselves so we can use the map. See if we can find a major structure or a town."
Bruce neighed and set off in an arbitrary direction. A few minutes into their journey, Genji heard a piercing screech overhead. A vulture was flying past them. Genji manifested his flintlock and shot down the bird. The screech dragged out into a terrified scream as the bird plummeted to the ground, dying on impact.
A wisp of black energy drifted from the corpse into the energy prism. Genji checked the crystal and spotted a strand thinner than sewing thread. He would have easily missed this if the prism had any traces of energy beforehand. The lives of these pitiful creatures provided almost no energy for his goal. Genji would need to hunt down stronger creatures if he wanted any noticeable progress.
"You can take care of these common mobs from now on," Genji told Bruce.
Bruce nodded as he siphoned the vulture's blood. They followed the dirt road for another hour before arriving at a small ranch. As they approached, they heard a yell full of resistance: "Stop! I don't want to entertain you!"
Looking closer with a telescope, Genji spotted two men in leather vests flanking a woman in a brown dress. The woman struggled against their grips, but her petite body couldn’t muster enough strength to break free. The men said something to her before crudely laughing.
Genji's attention was drawn to their waists, where the handle of a six-shooter pistol peeked out from the attached holsters. This suggested that this world had a certain level of technology rather than being purely magic-based.
"I don't think the lady's keen on whatever they're trying to do. Should we help them?" Genji asked Astros, who tilted his head in confusion, unsure why Genji had given him the decision-making power. "You don't know either, huh? In that case, let's flip a coin. Heads, we step in. Tails, we don’t." Astros shrugged, and the coin revealed heads.
Genji smiled and conjured some pebbles. He dismounted, pulled back his arm, and released the projectile like a baseball. A harsh yelp sounded as the pebbles smashed into the men's heads, disorienting them. Then their flowing blood drilled into their skulls, killing them instantly.
The frightened woman stepped back, her breathing unsteady, but she held her composure. Although the killing method startled her, she was no stranger to death; her experience as a ranch farmer alone had given her plenty of exposure to such gruesome scenes.
"Th-thank you for your help," the woman said as they approached. "I don’t know what I would have done without you."
"Yeah, yeah, I didn't do it for you." Genji kicked open the holsters, picked up the gun, and skillfully disassembled it for examination. There were four bullets left in the chamber. The inner walls contained copper circuits that intermittently flashed with arcs of energy. Genji traced the components with cutting intent, revealing an array of interconnected paths.
The circuits dimmed as the stored energy escaped through the severed ports. Genji gathered this energy in his palm and slowly experimented with its properties. From what he could tell, this energy resembled the minerals in the earth and served as a propellant.
Genji split a bullet and detected traces of the same energy. The energy within the bullet wasn’t stored in any specific pattern but rather in a messily condensed agglomeration. Genji found this strange since the craftsmen put so much effort into defining the delicate circuits but sloppily threw together the bullets.
Genji picked up the other gun, loaded it, and fired into the air. At the moment of release, the energy within the bullet flowed out of the shell and replenished the consumed energy in the gun. This explained why there was such a big difference in craftsmanship. The bullets were like portable batteries, meaning any bullet would do as long as it fit the chambers.
This approach has its pros and cons. It’s advantageous because any subpar craftsman could provide the necessary ammo, regardless of the gun model, as long as there were ample materials. Depending on this world’s technology, they might even have automated the ammo production.
At the same time, this drastically raised the requirements for the crafter. If the crafter couldn’t meet these prerequisites, they wouldn’t have any chance of success. It’s a make-or-break situation.
'It’s also not that threatening. I can easily dodge this at 50 meters. At 25, it might break my skin but won’t deal any significant damage. Only at 5 meters will it do any harm, but I can easily heal the wound. So it's basically useless?'
The woman, noticing Genji’s interest in the firearms, spoke up again. "I have some silver cartridges if you're interested. Treat it as my thanks for saving me."
Intrigued, Genji agreed. The woman nodded and led him into her house. They walked past the kitchen and stopped near a creaky floorboard. The woman pressed around a few times, and a trapdoor opened. She reached in and took out a small, dusty box.
"Here. My late father left these before his passing. I don’t have any use for them, so I hope they serve you better."
Genji opened the lid and spotted about 20 dull metal bullets. He held one up to a nearby window and sensed the energy within. The energy had a slightly different attribute and was about three times as abundant as the previous rounds. This could inflict some substantial damage if used against bare skin.
"Can you tell me where the closest town is before I go?" Genji asked.
The woman thought for a moment and walked outside. "Follow this road and take a left at the crossroad toward Valley Way. You should reach Dust Town shortly after."
Genji thanked her and rode off into the horizon. Along the way, he used the nearby terrain and path to estimate his position on the map. After an hour, he reached the intersection where a wooden signpost of three branching paths stood.
Genji followed the left path and soon entered a small community comprised of rows of houses alongside a main road. Upon seeing him, the townspeople shut their windows and locked their doors, showing a strong aversion to outsiders. This behavior spread quickly, and soon, the place resembled a ghost town.
A tumbleweed blew past, kicking up a thin layer of dust. Genji ignored this and led Bruce toward the only saloon in town. He pushed open the wooden panels for doors, and the saloon instantly stilled. The people inside stared deadpan at Genji as he entered, their eyes almost listless. A heavy scent of cheap, poor-quality alcohol assaulted Genji’s senses.
The others realized Genji wasn’t hostile and despondently returned to their drinks, seeking to drown their minds in muddleheadedness. There was a heavy sense of despair in the air.
Genji glanced around before heading straight for the counter. The bartender running the place was an older gentleman with a thick gray mustache. A hint of surprise flashed through his eyes when he saw the witch hunter badge pinned to Genji’s chest.
"What’s an esteemed hunter like you doing out here? Did you perhaps encounter any witches?" the man asked.
"No, rather I'm trying to run into them. Anyway, give me your strongest drink."
"Then, this one's on the house. You’ll have to pay if you want any more," the bartender said, pouring a glass of murky brown liquid for Genji.
Genji brought the cup to his nose and noted the acrid smell. This was not a high-quality spirit, but that didn’t deter Genji from trying it. The drink was bitter and harsh on the palate, though it was pure alcohol, unlike the other drinks, which had various drugs mixed in. The drink left a slight burn on the way down and a nasty aftertaste that coated the tongue.
Genji finished the drink and leaned toward the bartender. "Give me another one," he said, dropping a nugget of gold on the counter. The bartender glanced at the material and softly shook his head.
"Sorry, sir, we don’t have any use for phosphorous gold, even if it’s valuable. We prefer something more practical, like supplies or water."
"Then I’ll have to disappoint you. I barely have enough for myself, let alone others," Genji replied, pretending to get up.
"Hold on! We can discuss another method," the bartender quickly called out to him. "You can drink as much as you want if you take care of some bandits for us."
"Go on. Tell me more." Genji spun around on the chair.
The bartender fiddled with his mustache for a few seconds, taking deep breaths to calm his nerves before speaking. "This gang rode into town a few weeks back. They've extorted us for all we're worth and taken the women as captives. We couldn’t fight back—they had too many guns."
"How many are there?"
"Around a dozen. I can’t tell you more since I’ve never fully counted."
"That's fine. Find someone to guide me to their hideout."
"I can do that," someone said at that moment.
Genji turned around and spotted a burly man in his thirties behind him.
"I can show you where they are," the man continued, pulling down his cowboy hat to cover his face. "They took my wife, so I need to fight."
This reason might have sounded convincing if not for the shifty glances some patrons were exchanging. Genji pretended not to notice and solemnly nodded. "Then lead the way. Do you have a horse?"
"Yes, let’s go."
This confirmed Genji’s suspicions. The man was too eager and quick to agree to this dangerous task. Unless he was the reckless type, this behavior wouldn’t make sense. But if he were reckless, he wouldn’t have waited until now to take action, hence the flawed act. With this in mind, Genji noted all the suspicious people and walked out.