As school came to a close, Roan bid farewell to his friends, ran into a corner, and teleported near the location of his home in one leap. The faint white light disappeared as he opened his eyes, and he swiftly walked back to his home.
Am I glad that school ended early today. Roan checked the time. Three in the afternoon. And I have enough charge in my bank for a couple of roundtrips if I guessed correctly. If not, then I would just be stranded in another reality and have to wait for a while before getting back home.
He twisted the doorknob, opened the door to his house, and habitually shouted, “I’m home!”
“…”
Silence.
“Hmm?” Roan walked inside, took off his shoes, and curiously looked around the empty living room. There wasn’t a sign of life in sight, and there was a note left on the living room table.
“I’ll be gone for the afternoon for a hangout with my friends. I’ll probably be back by nine. Here’s some cash so you can order some food”
“ —Love, Mom.”
“Thirty damn dollars.” Roan whistled. “What should I buy later?”
Going up the stairs and dropping his bag in his room, Roan quickly put on a set of new clothes—a baggy black shirt, baggy black pants, and a plain black hoodie for last—providing a stark contrast to his pale white skin.
After that, he grabbed a spare bag from his closet and went back downstairs.
“Knife, hammer, oh yeah, an umbrella.” While rummaging through the stuff they had at home, he swung the umbrella around like a sword and nodded his head. A bit lighter than what I’m used to, but it would make do.
If I could get a metallic bat though…
After finishing his preparations by filling the bag with food, water, and ‘weapons,’ Roan grabbed the thirty dollars from the table and placed it with the rest of his travel money in his wallet.
Now that’s all said and done, Roan stood alone in the living room and took a deep breath. While he may have gotten a little used to teleporting already, traveling to a whole new reality was far more different. He would transform and be rid of his mortal coil, becoming some sort of energy being, and get sucked into an empty void of nothingness.
Let’s just hope parallel universes are close by. Roan clenched his fists, and white sparks coalesced around him. They rapidly expanded in size and luminosity, covering him fully before exploding outwards in a burst of power. A gust of wind rattled the leaves of potted plants in the living room, while unnoticeable scorch marks were left on the tiled floor.
Roan hurriedly stabilized himself as he once again entered the void with incomprehensible sights all around. Flying through the nothingness between realities, he saw indescribable shapes, impossible colors, and things of cosmic, infinite scale.
Roan didn’t waste more time and glanced at the area near the universe he originated from, and as he had hopefully expected, he saw realities similar to his. Approaching some of them, and letting his senses flow, he could vaguely discern the ongoing events within those realities.
Unfortunately, Roan was too inexperienced and saw things at a macro scale, not at the depth at which he could directly observe Earth. Galaxies spun and drifted apart; stars collided with one another to produce massive supernovas; massive black holes greedily absorbed the essence of the universe, expanding in size.
Roan tried to locate the coordinates of Earth through his cosmic awareness but only found the Milky Way galaxy in the end before he ‘slipped’ and ‘lost balance’. It was hard to remain still in the void, with his body being constantly pulled into the boundaries of different realities; in the end, he was so focused on trying to observe alternate worlds that he fell right into one.
An endless cosmos flowed like colorful lines in his view as he zoomed straight into Earth. He didn’t know how he managed to locate it and have such a clear grasp of its spatial coordinates, but Roan didn’t bother to ask or question it. What mattered was that luckily, he didn’t have to wander the endless cosmos of a parallel universe just to locate Earth.
Though maybe I just lost the opportunity to find alien life? Roan glanced at the blurry cosmos around him as he moved at incomprehensible speeds. Or maybe not. Space is looking a little too empty for me. Maybe the theory that humanity might just be an ancient alien civilization is true and that we’re one of the earliest sentient species to have ever existed in the universe.
He dismissed those questions in his head when Earth finally came into view, and before he could even blink, Roan abruptly found himself returning to his vessel of flesh and blood as he landed right on the rooftop of his school building.
“Oh, fuck.” Roan was disoriented by the rapid shift and had to lean back on the railings of the rooftop. He then looked at the sky by habit and was greeted by the afternoon sun. “Oh wow.”
He rubbed his eyes and slowly got over his dizziness. Roan believed that after a couple more jumps like that, he would eventually get used to the nauseating feeling, but right now, he had more pressing discoveries to attend to.
“Lunch is just about to end?” He glanced at the crowd of students walking into the gates of Elmwood High. “Huh, that kinda ruins my plan on sneaking around at night to steal stuff.”
Roan had a simple agenda for today, namely, to find a way to acquire guns and steal money. Is it dubious and illegal? Yes. Would it affect his life back in his home universe? No.
The young man already knew that the moment the multiverse had graced him its open doors, things like consequences were nullified to a certain point. As long as his actions wouldn’t affect his normal day-to-day life in his home reality, Roan really doesn’t care if he would bring dire consequences to one reality or another; what’s one against infinity, right?
So, he prepared to teleport away, when he suddenly saw something strange, at one factoid that had slipped his mind since he was too fixated on guns.
“Oh damn…” Roan stared at, well, himself.
To be more exact, another version of himself, one that belonged to this universe, and he looked a lot different than what Roan would have expected.
He was strangely shorter, around an inch or two lesser than Roan’s own height. He didn’t wear glasses and instead wore contacts. His hair was longer and neater, with the back tied into a ponytail.
Rather than wearing plain black clothes with ridiculous graphics on the front and back, he wore a plain white shirt underneath a cream-colored cardigan and loose-fitting black pants. To complete the outfit, he wore a pair of black loafers, and a dark brown tote bag slung across his right shoulder.
A tote bag?! Roan was baffled. Are you really me if you’re not bringing everything along to school with a bulky ass backpack strapped to your back?! Can you even fit a retractable baton in there? Can you even hide a metallic bat in there?!
That wasn’t the thing that surprised him the most though, because this version of him… was holding hands with Ella, the same Ella Browns who he flirted with this morning.
First off, wow, he looks gay as heck. Roan just had to get that out of his system. Yes, he had dated guys before, but this Roan was looking a little too zesty.
Second of all, what the hell is going on? How the hell did this happen?
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This version of me looks like your average Afrilian pretty boy already, with the woflcut and all. Roan took out his phone and opened Snapshot. As expected, the app glitched and he received an error notification, prompting him to log in or continue as a guest, probably because of different servers.
“Just what had you been up to, me?” Roan was quite intrigued by what kind of life he could have lived in this other world and searched up his handle, and unexpectedly, this world’s Roan popped up. “So we’re not too dissimilar—“
“Woahhhhhh…” Roan stared dumbfoundedly at the variety of food and cute couple pics that greeted him. “This guy is cooking?”
“Wait… He’s not even doing kendo? He’s the president of the culinary arts club?!” Roan couldn’t help but browse through the pics of his other self. “He’s mad cute ain’t gonna lie.”
“Fuck.” Roan cursed as he caught himself lacking. “I’m down bad for my other self. This is way beyond narcissism.”
As he focused back on his ‘research,’ Roan learned that this world’s Roan had been part of the culinary arts club since eighth grade, after becoming friends with Ella Brown. Then, somewhere down the line, around ninth grade, they began dating, and three years later, they were still going strong.
“Good god, he’s not a manipulative red flag like me.” Roan could barely believe what he was learning. “Don’t tell me I’m the outlier? Shiver me timbers.”
He felt his skin crawl at the mere thought of being the one-in-a-hundred scumbag Roan and that the rest of them were normal green flags, and once again observed his other self from the rooftop. Now that I think about it, isn’t Ella also a part of the culinary arts club? As he furrowed his brows trying to jog his memories, he eventually remembered that yes, Ella was part of the culinary arts club. She was even its president.
Huh. Roan hummed, before looking back at his phone. I wonder what Ethan and Daniel are doing in this world.
The young man had already mentally prepared himself for the wackiness of the multiverse, but actually getting to witness it for himself had been quite the shocker. To be fair though, this version of him was probably never traumatized as a child after almost dying to an interdimensional robot.
“Oh fuck, I am the outlier.” Roan finally pieced two and two together. If his hypothesis that Navi, who had no records on Earth, belonged to a whole ‘nother universe considering she wielded the same powers as him, then they would have no ‘Navi’ in their lives. “God fucking damn it.”
“Did I get the short end of the stick?” Roan paused and then looked down at his hands. “Well, considering I can jump between universes now, probably not. Ugh, this infinite multiverse stuff is making my brain hurt. Does that mean there’s another version of me out there born as the Biblical God? As Buddha? As Odin? As the richest man in the universe?”
The more he thought about it, the more paradoxical things became.
If a version of me out there is an omnipotent god who decided to make every other version of himself an omnipotent god, wouldn’t I be an omnipotent god already? Clearly, he was not an omnipotent god, which raised a whole lot of questions about the ‘limitless possibilities’ of the multiverse, because there appears to be a limit.
“Oh lookie here…” Roan finally found Ethan’s account. “He’s dead?!”
Roan nearly choked on his saliva as he stared at the picture of Ethan’s grave.
“He studied in Cassara High, not that unexpected since he’s a smart douchebag… Then terrorists attacked the school? What the heck?” Roan read the news article with utter disbelief. Ethan didn’t even study at Elmwood High in this world, and he was dead!
What about Daniel?! If I was never friends with Ethan in this world… Roan checked Daniel’s account, and… “He’s an e-boy streamer?!”
The young man gazed at the sky, his eyes blank and unreadable. “What the fuck, Daniel? Why are you an e-boy streamer?!”
It felt like he lost all respect he had for his friend, and felt sorrow for the passing of Ethan. This universe was just so ridiculously different from the one he knew that it might as well be a whole new reality.
“Well, it is an alternate universe.” Roan sighed and forced himself to stop snooping around or else he’d feel a new bout of existential crisis. He managed to not break down upon realizing the multiverse was real, so he was sure as hell not gonna tempt his mental health from degrading by delving deeper into the absurdity of everything.
Instead, he’d much rather focus on accomplishing his goals.
First, find a way to acquire guns. Second, acquire money.
“Time to do this.” He slowly pulled out the finishing parts of his drip from his bag: A plain white mask with a horrifying grin running across its lips, and black gloves to cover his hands. “Time for the dimension-hopping thief, Roan Peregrine, to unfurl his wings!”
…
Craig Fields was your average minimum wage worker, with a commonly seen depressed face. He finished taking a piss in the shop’s bathroom and mentally prepared himself to deal with more annoying customers for the day.
He worked in a local convenience store in Elmwood, and it had a steady flow of customers almost every single day of the week. Most of them were a kind bunch, but those that are rotten apples are particularly annoying.
However, as rotten as they may be, at least they never harmed him physically.
What… Craig paused in his footsteps, and quietly stared at the strange figure smashing the store’s cash register with a metallic bat in broad daylight. Not only that, but there were customers groaning in pain on the ground; some grabbed their stomachs, crying aloud; some were straight up knocked unconscious.
“Open. You. Bastard!” The hooded figure continued bashing the cash register until it was finally opened, revealing all of the cash inside in all its glory. “Finally!”
He rejoiced and unzipped his bag, but as he did so, his dark brown eyes stared at Craig dead in the eye.
“Are you going to try and stop me, or quietly sit in that corner there?” They asked with a chilling tone.
“I’m… I’m just gonna stay here… W-Will you hit me if I call the cops?” Craig almost cursed himself for asking that stupid question.
“Nah, you can call them.” Roan gleefully stuffed the cash in his bag. With a casual count, there’s at least a few hundred dollars! “Do you guys have any hidden safe here? Do you guys have guns?”
“I… I think the boss has a hidden safe in the basement, and w-we don’t have guns here. The boss… the boss does have a katana stored underneath the counter.” Craig pointed at the compartment beneath the cash register.
Opening it, Roan was greeted by a surprisingly high-quality katana, with a sword forged from pure steel. Its edge was nice sharp, and its handle was firm to grab.
Katana - Tier I
Attack Power: 50
Durability: 98%
Effect: None.
An attack power of 30? That’s pretty darn high! Roan whistled, but unfortunately, he didn’t have enough space for it. Hmm, I could hide it near the house in this world and grab it later once I have guns.
With a katana at hand, Roan passed by the terrified employee and casually opened the door leading to the basement.
“Dear boss, I hope you have a hidden safe in here,” he whispered, just loud enough for Craig to hear.
God, what did I do to deserve this fate? Craig silently prayed. Just what kind of sin had I committed to be forced to deal with an insane madman on a random Tuesday?
As he fell down to his butt, staring at the ceiling dazedly, a minute passed and the entrance of the shop burst open with cops rushing in, handguns raised.
“You there!” One of them recognized him as the caller since he was the only one wearing an employee’s uniform. “Where did he go?”
“D-Down there!!” Craig fearfully pointed at the entrance leading to the basement.
The group of cops carefully entered the basement, their flashes on.
“Damn bro, you really snitched on me?”
Craig froze as he heard the chilling voice to his side. Slowly turning to look to his right, he saw a man leaning back on the ball, with an eerie smile plastered on their plain white mask. “I’m not disappointed though, you did the right thing!”
“Now, don’t snitch on me again.” He approached the basement door, and gently closed it with an audible click. “Okay?”
“I-I will!” Craig swore he would not utter another word to the cops, because how the fuck was this madman here? He knew for a goddamn fact that he didn’t walk out of the basement, so either he was hallucinating shit… or this man was a ghost.
Ignoring the employee, Roan grabbed some snacks for the road, stuffed them in his bag, and glanced at the lone cop outside who was cautiously waiting right beside their car.
“Bingo.” He squinted his eyes, staring intently at the gun on the cop’s holster. I was planning on trying to find a gun store or something and stealing from it, but this would make do… Though the bullets remain a problem. Just where am I supposed to get them?
Ah, right. Roan chuckled. There’s the police station! Of course, they’d have bullets in their armory!
Swinging his baseball bat around, one that he stole from the baseball club in Elmwood High, the young man prepared himself to deal a single, powerful blow.
Three. White sparks coalesced around his body.
Two. He got in position, rotating his torso and tightening his grip on the bat.
One! He disappeared in a burst of white light, shocking Craig.
G-Ghost! Craig screamed in his mind, a horrified look appearing on his face.
Bang!
The poor cop couldn’t even react when Roan abruptly popped into existence behind him, and with one calculated blow, bashed the baseball bat to the cop’s liver. He fell to the ground with a loud grunt, clutching his stomach, barely conscious due to the unbearable pain.
“Thank you very much for your contribution.” Roan shamelessly grabbed the cop’s gun, and whistled, admiring the weapon’s stats.
Handgun - Tier II
Attack Power: 100
Durability: 87%
Effect 1: None
Effect 2: None
Wait, this can have two effects? Roan furrowed his brows. But why did the katana and the handgun have no effects? The spear had one, but none of the items on Earth had any.
He couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of secrets tiers held, and how effects could be acquired. However, he had more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.
The basement door opened with a loud bang as a group of cops rushed out, aiming their guns at the helpless Craig who they assumed had tried to lock them below.
“Not my problem.” Roan shrugged his shoulders and disappeared with a flash of white light.