Have you ever thought about Pandora's box?
Not the fairy tale version people tell children, where it's just a cautionary metaphor about curiosity.
I mean the real concept behind it — the idea that inside one sealed container could lie the greatest treasure imaginable… or the greatest catastrophe ever conceived.
And the cruelest part?
You don't know which one it is.
Not until you open it.
You can theorize.
You can calculate probabilities.
You can rationalize risks.
But until your fingers actually lift the lid, you're blind.
Right now, I was standing in front of my own Pandora's box.
Except instead of a mystical artifact, it was a clean system panel hovering before my eyes, politely requesting:
Please use 100% of your current System Points.
All of it.
Every single digit.
One hundred and ten trillion worth of cosmic leverage.
It will be gone.
For something undefined.
Unexplained.
Unrevealed.
The system didn't show previews.
No tooltip.
No small disclaimer.
No "recommended for experienced users."
Just blind faith.
People fear the unknown more than death.
At least with death, you know what you're getting.
The unknown?
It could be heaven.
It could be hell.
Or worse — it could be useless.
Any sane person in my position would not hesitate.
They would laugh at the offer.
Ignore it.
Open the shop.
Buy Arceus.
Buy ten.
Buy one hundred.
Secure guaranteed, measurable power.
Build stability.
Build an empire.
Build inevitability to get everything you need.
That's what a rational, responsible, stable individual would do.
But…
I'm not sane.
Not fully.
Okay, maybe not even partially.
And no — it's not just because I'm weird.
…Though that's definitely a contributing factor.
It's something else.
If I had feared the unknown…
I wouldn't have stepped into the supernatural world in the first place.
I would've stayed a normal, boring, nothing-to-brag-about kind of human.
Stayed completely ordinary.
Stayed safe and died safe.
I wouldn't know devils.
Wouldn't know fallen angels.
Wouldn't know gods.
I wouldn't have Rias.
Or Sona.
Or Koneko.
Or Asia.
Or Tsubaki.
Or Akeno.
Every single one of those connections was born from stepping into something I didn't understand.
Even this unknown, where I am, is still completely unknown to me.
So no.
I don't fear the unknown.
I look forward to it.
Yes, some unknowns are horrifying.
Yes, some are lethal or straight-up traumatizing.
But that's the point of becoming strong.
That realization hit me the day I almost lost everyone.
Strength isn't about eliminating fear.
It's about standing in front of it anyway.
Maybe pressing this button is a mistake.
Maybe it's a scam.
Maybe it unlocks something so niche I'll regret it for centuries.
Maybe it's useless.
But if I walk away now…
If I choose safety over possibility…
And later find out it was the key to something beyond imagination?
That regret would be worse.
It's asking for everything.
All my points.
All my accumulated leverage.
Which means one thing.
It's important.
The system has never been sentimental.
If it wants everything, it's because whatever lies beyond isn't small.
I exhaled slowly.
"Alright," I muttered to myself.
"Let's see what's inside my Pandora Box."
And I pressed confirm.
For a split second, nothing happened.
Then—
The entire system interface erupted.
Panels detached from their flat positioning and began rotating around me in three-dimensional space.
Golden light spilled outward like a digital sunrise.
Layers of translucent code spiraled in orbit, lines of symbols rearranging themselves in elegant patterns.
It wasn't violent.
It wasn't chaotic.
It was… ceremonial.
Like something ancient had just acknowledged my decision.
The light intensified, wrapping around my body in a halo of geometric sigils before collapsing inward with a sharp pulse.
Silence.
The interface reassembled in front of me.
Cleaner.
Sharper.
Subtly refined.
The borders looked sleeker.
The typography is slightly altered.
The performance felt… smoother.
Like upgrading from an old device to something premium without realizing how much lag you had tolerated before.
I scanned for changes.
Three new icons shimmered into existence.
[Achievements]
[Party]
[Dimension Travel]
"…That's it?"
No heavenly trumpet.
No reality rewrite.
Just three buttons.
I focused on Achievements first.
It opened.
And—
Yeah.
It was exactly what it sounded like.
A record log.
Nothing flashy.
Nothing overpowered.
Just documentation.
And one entry glowed brighter than the rest(there is only one entry though...):
[Zenith of Avarice – God Rank Hidden Achievement]
[Awarded only to those who refuse to expand beyond their starter Pokémon, amass immense wealth through that single partner, and decline to purchase additional Pokémon despite opportunity.]
[Reward: Increased system performance.]
I stared at it.
"…That's insane."
Do you understand the absurdity of that requirement?
You need a good starter.
Not trash.
Not unusable.
But strong enough to carry you alone.
Then you need the discipline — or insanity — to refuse buying a second Pokémon.
Ever.
Even when you can afford it.
Even when testing synergy would be optimal.
Even when strategy demands it.
And somehow accumulate god-tier wealth without expanding your roster.
That's not skill-based.
That's luck plus stubbornness plus self-restraint bordering on pathological.
If I hadn't won that free Pokémon coupon at the very beginning?
I'd be cooked.
And the "don't buy another Pokémon" condition?
That alone kills 99% of players.
It only worked for me because I was hoarding for Arceus from the start.
Any deviation.
Any curiosity.
Any "let me try just one more."
Achievement gone.
No wonder it's God Rank.
It's less a challenge and more a statistical anomaly.
I closed the tab.
"Alright, fine. Moving on."
Party.
I opened it.
Capacity: 3 members.
Functionality: Shared access to certain perks. Shared gain experience and powers with the user.
That's it.
Useful, yes.
Revolutionary?
Not particularly.
Which left the last one.
Dimension Travel.
Now that… was interesting.
I opened the details.
You may travel to alternate-dimensional habitats dominated by any living species.
You and your party may gain or learn through that dimension's power system.
When leaving a dimension, you will return to the moment you originally departed from it.
Current unlocked dimensions: 2.
Additional dimensions unlock when certain criteria are met.
I read it twice.
Then three times.
"So basically… isekai mode?"
Learn their power.
Return at the same time.
No lost time.
No timeline damage.
That's…
Actually insane.
Extremely broken.
Potentially limitless.
And yet—
That's it.
That's what one hundred and ten trillion system points bought me.
No instant godhood.
No omnipotence toggle.
Just mechanics.
Tools.
Opportunity.
Huh.
Before I could dive deeper—
The sky outside shifted.
The lighting in the hall dimmed.
Shadows elongated unnaturally.
Azazel looked up sharply.
"What is—"
I stepped outside.
And froze.
The sun was falling.
Not metaphorically.
Not in some poetic, symbolic sense.
The actual sun.
Descending.
Rapidly.
A blazing sphere of condensed destruction is tearing downward toward Grigori's position.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The air ignited.
Heat-distorted vision.
The fallen angels panicked, wings flaring as defensive magic circles activated.
And then—
Reality twisted.
A familiar distortion wrapped around me.
Around the entire Grigori compound.
In an instant, we were ripped away.
Back into the Distortion World.
"What?" I muttered. "Giratina?"
She didn't answer verbally.
Instead, she shared her perception.
Through her sight, I saw it.
A radiant girl suspended in the sky above where we had just stood.
Blazing with light.
She had launched the descending star herself.
A giant fireball compressed into a miniature sun-state.
She halted mid-air when she realized her target had vanished.
Then—
Without hesitation—
She teleported.
Following.
And in that moment, watching her power signature burn through space like a declaration of war, one thought surfaced clearly in my mind.
"…This is the worst day."
Because something had changed.
After my broadcast.
After my declaration.
After everything.
The apex predators of existence had stopped hiding.
And now—
They were moving openly.
.......................................................................
Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/zevionasgorath
Patreon link: patreon.com/zevionasgorath