Aiden stared down at the floating blue screen in front of him.
The system was something every kid under the age of ten dreamed of, and every adult saw as a simple part of life.
Yet despite what it granted, the system was not under the control of people.
The experience points it granted, its skills, what counted as enough practice to train a skill, none of it was controllable.
So as Aiden stared at the system prompt before him, he was reminded rather harshly of one simple fact.
Underneath all the kindness, warm tea, and cozy bookstore atmosphere sat a man able to exert such power over reality that even the system bowed before him.
A man who could hold a conversation with someone on par with Red as if it were a discussion over brunch.
"You seem hesitant," Mr. Lee said. "Would it be easier if we brought Will in on the conversation?"
As if on cue, the room shifted.
Aiden heard the scrape of a chair on wood.
Turning to his right, he saw Will sitting in the other chair.
Same hair.
Same eyes.
Same glasses.
Same clothes.
He stared back with a look of complete bewilderment.
"How in the—?"
"I do apologize if that caused any discomfort," Mr. Lee said. "We are currently in your mind. In order to make the shift less jarring, I made the impression of the bookstore around us. Though we can return if you would prefer. After all, my customers' comfort is my highest honor as a simple bookstore owner."
Aiden and Will looked at each other.
Mr. Lee grabbed the teapot and moved it to the side, where it seemed to vanish.
"Not going to lie," Will said, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair, "I figured you would be freaking out more at this."
"I think it's more shock," Aiden said honestly, mimicking Will's pose. "I'll probably start screaming from confusion and panic in a couple minutes. Or not. We'll have to see."
The two of them turned back to Mr. Lee.
The bookstore owner sat behind his desk, steepling his fingers with a polite smile as he waited for their choice.
While Aiden knew some people would struggle to pick, he and Will had already come to roughly the same conclusion before Will was even brought into the conversation.
Power talked about reading a book, which might have meant skills.
But even a powerful skill could have a use cost higher than Aiden's mana for a long time.
So that was a no.
Potential was more tempting.
However, the vagueness of the description made Aiden hesitant to select it.
That left only one choice.
In unison, Aiden and Will said, "We would like knowledge."
Mr. Lee nodded and held up a hand.
A piece of paper seemed to materialize in the air before he laid it down on the desk.
"Uh," Will said, looking the paper over without unfolding his arms. "You never mentioned a contract, Mr. Lee."
"This is not a contract in the generic sense," Mr. Lee said. "This receipt serves two purposes. It allows you to learn knowledge without fear of falsehood, and it prevents you from being attacked by those who would prefer certain knowledge remain unknown."
Aiden and Will both looked down at the page.
Aiden glanced up.
"Why would you do this? If anything, it seems to benefit us more than you."
Mr. Lee chuckled as if Aiden had told a funny joke, then took a sip of his tea.
"A store, no matter how well stocked or how fair the prices, will remain empty if it is known for having a body count, will it not?"
Aiden and Will looked down at the page for a moment.
Then Aiden agreed and signed.
The scroll rolled itself up.
Mr. Lee leaned forward, resting his chin on his palm and his elbows on his desk.
"Seeing as there are two of you, and you hold Ms. Indigo's recommendation, I shall grant you three questions of knowledge."
His smile widened slightly.
"Shall we start with Will?"
Aiden turned to Will, curious.
Despite being a part of him, Will seemed to have developed into something more like a separate entity than a mere facet of himself.
Will leaned down and thought for a moment.
Then he looked up at Mr. Lee.
"What is a fateless?"
Mr. Lee raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
"Going for the big questions right off the bat, I see."
He stood.
"In order to answer that question, I must ask, what is fate in your mind?"
Will took a moment to think.
As he did, a blackboard wheeled in as if someone had pushed it over from somewhere out of sight.
Mr. Lee picked up a piece of chalk and began to draw, still waiting for Wills answer.
"It's the thing that controls the future, I think?" Will said, sounding very much like he was guessing.
Mr. Lee turned back around.
On the board was a stick figure with a line running from its head. Around the line was a strange groove, like a channel carved into wood om a puppet stage.
"Every creature to ever exist, even the gods, has something known as a string of fate," Mr. Lee said. "This string serves as what some people call lifeforce, or the soul."
He tapped the line with the chalk.
"If this string is cut, the result is a death not even the highest-leveled people can reverse, no matter how much they desire it."
Aiden felt himself go still.
"Fate serves as a channel for this string, moving it one way or another and directing the person attached along with it."
Mr. Lee stepped over and drew another image.
This one showed a string leading up to a hand.
"Fateless are similar to regular people, with one core difference. A fateless being is said to grab their string of fate and manipulate it themselves."
He drew cracks around the channel.
"Their influence causes the fate of those around them, as well as their own, to shatter. That influence causes actions and reactions that go against the preordainment of fate."
"W-Wait," Aiden said, raising a hand like he was asking Grandpa to run him through a potion step again. "Beings that can shatter fate by accident? Does that mean anyone near a fateless becomes one since their fate is shattered?"
"No," Mr. Lee said. "The shattered fate does not travel beyond the instance. As such, once a fateless leaves a location, those affected return to normal after a time."
Mr. Lee pointed the chalk toward Will, who had raised his hand.
"So what happens in the moment?" Will asked. "Is the person just directionless?"
"Some say so. However, the true cause is the breaking of the curses and gifts of fate. Things like luck and unluck fail to function correctly. Some would even describe it as a roll of the die."
Mr. Lee looked back to Aiden, who had raised his hand again.
"What about these beings that can grab the strings of fate?" Aiden asked. "What is their whole thing?"
Mr. Lee seemed to think for a moment, as if trying to come up with an analogy.
"When it comes to things like war, a soldier sees brutality, carnage, and loss," Mr. Lee said. "In that same war, a king sees numbers, pieces on a map, and discussions of strategy beyond a single battle."
He looked between them.
"Would you not then be able to describe the soldiers as pieces in the king's game?"
"So you're saying these beings see this as a big game?" Will asked.
He held up his hand, and a simple wooden chess piece formed in his fingers.
He fiddled with it.
"Yes," Mr. Lee said. "They do. And while a king can change how they play their game by giving their soldiers training and equipment, these beings design every facet of their chosen pieces."
His tone remained calm.
That made the words worse.
"This includes injuries, traumas, fears, talents, classes, skills, and even their very history from infancy to their current age."
As Mr. Lee spoke, chunks of the chess piece carved themselves away and fell off.
By the time he finished, the simple pawn had transformed into a familiar face.
Ymer.
Aiden and Will looked between each other.
"What do you mean they can control their history?" Aiden asked. "How would they even do that?"
Mr. Lee chuckled softly.
"They are fifth-dimensional beings. Things like the flow of time can be changed with a thought."
He tapped the board again.
"Fateless are said to move in strange, almost optimized ways because their controllers are often said to pause time to discuss the best course of action. They even discuss matters between each other without a single word spoken aloud, then move with the unity of a well-developed team after mere moments of meeting each other."
Aiden's stomach tightened.
"Though you are correct about one thing," Mr. Lee continued. "The reason they create and hold avatars is exactly because they cannot directly affect things. That is where Red comes in."
Aiden and Will both paled at the mention of Red.
Mr. Lee continued as if he had only mentioned an interesting detail.
"You see, Red made a deal with these beings that many have dubbed players, due to their status of controlling people as if they were game pieces."
He folded his hands behind his back.
"A player submits a backstory, and Red is in charge of making it happen."
Will leaned forward.
"Okay, so what? He changes someone's name and makes a few things happen in their life?"
Mr. Lee frowned and shook his head.
"Actually, they seem to believe that trauma builds growth. Though I think it would be better to show you an example."
Mr. Lee held up a hand.
A page appeared before sliding over to them.
On it was a horrifying list.
Red: Can you give me a list of all the injuries Rib has? I want to make sure I get them all. You sent a big list.
Shrimpfry: I want Rib to have been burned alive, electrocuted, bludgeoned, irradiated, flayed alive, mouth carved open, and eyes ripped out.
Just about any torture tactic you can think of. Drugged, beaten, stabbed, mauled, crushed. Basically anything terrible you can do to a person.
Also experimented on and having pain and joy severed from his body.
Red: Man, you are a cruel bastard.
Shrimpfry: Hey, the perfect experiment is what they would call Rib.
Let's also not forget used as a scapegoat by those he called family.
And the trauma.
Emotional wounds as well.
As well as experiments involving someone trying to steal Rib's body.
Anything bad you can think of, they had twenty years to do to Rib.
The trauma builds character.
Red: Poor kid, if I didn't know any better I would say you enjoy setting this up.
Shrimpfry: Thank you.
Aiden and Will finished reading.
When they looked up, Mr. Lee had a sad expression on his face.
"T-This is real?" Will stammered, his hands shaking around the page. "I-It can't be. This isn't just cruel. It's inhuman and sick."
His voice cracked.
"What's the point of all that? Nothing survives personality-wise from something like that."
"Normally, you would be correct," Mr. Lee said. "But when a player controls their character, as they call them, they control everything. Even their personality."
The words settled heavily in the room.
"Rib, the boy, died years ago. His body is alive and being puppeted by a player because they desire entertainment."
Mr. Lee's expression remained somber.
"And while this is one of the worst cases currently active, that does not mean most fateless are without trauma and deep scars."
He stepped back to his desk and sat down casually, his expression shifting back into cheerfulness with unsettling ease.
"That is your first question."
He looked at Aiden.
"What is your next question?"